39 Inspiring Mindfulness Quotes

In our fast-paced world filled with distractions and constant demands on our time and attention, mindfulness offers a sanctuary of peace and clarity. Delving into the practice of being fully present can enhance our well-being, foster resilience, and help us navigate life's challenges with grace. One powerful way to connect with mindfulness is through thoughtful, inspiring quotes. These nuggets of wisdom can serve as gentle reminders to pause, breathe, and ground ourselves in the present moment. In this collection, we've gathered 39 of the most inspiring mindfulness quotes to guide and uplift you on your journey toward a more mindful and fulfilling life. Whether you're new to mindfulness or seeking deeper insights, these quotes are sure to resonate and inspire.

1. “People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

2. “Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” - Marcus Aurelius

3. “We too should make ourselves empty, that the great soul of the universe may fill us with its breath.” - Lawrence Binyon

4. “A bird cried jubilation. In that moment they lived long. All minor motions were stilled and only the great ones were perceived. Beneath them the earth turned, singing.” - Sheri S. Tepper

5. “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” - Amit Ray

6. “The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.” - Pema Chodron

7. “Two thoughts cannot coexist at the same time: if the clear light of mindfulness is present, there is no room for mental twilight.” - Nyanaponika Thera

8. “Mindfulness has never met a cognition it didn't like.” - Daniel J. Siegel

9. “If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...” - Pema Chodron

10. “Compassion is not complete if it does not include oneself.” - Allan Lokos

11. “By practicing meditation we establish love, compassion, sympathetic joy & equanimity as our home.” - Sharon Salzberg

12. “To reteach a thing its loveliness is the nature of metta. Through lovingkindness, everyone & everything can flower again from within.” - Sharon Salzberg

13. “Like water poured from one vessel to another, metta flows freely, taking the shape of each situation without changing its essence.” - Sharon Salzberg

14. “If you know how to be happy with the wonders of life that are already there for you to enjoy, you don't need to stress your mind and your body by striving harder and harder, and you don't need to stress this planet by purchasing more and more stuff. The Earth belongs to our children. We have already borrowed too much from it, from them; and the way things have been going, we're not sure we'll be able to give it back to them in decent shape. And who are our children, actually? They are us, because they are our own continuation. So we've been shortchanging our own selves. Much of our modern way of life is permeated by mindless overborrowing. The more we borrow, the more we loser. That's why it's critical that we wake up and see we don't need to do that anymore. What's already available in the here and now is plenty for us to be nourished, to be happy. Only that kind of insight will get us, each one of us, to stop engaging in the compulsive, self-sabotaging behaviors of our species. We need a collective awakening. One Buddha is not enough. All of us have to become Buddhas in order for our planet to have a chance. Fortunately, we have the power to wake up, to touch enlightenment from moment to moment, in our very own ordinary and, yes, busy lives. So let's start right now. Peace is your every breath.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

15. “Without energy being invested in resisting the unwanted or dueling with fears, we have more energy and attention available for noticing not only the disturbing, but the wonderful...When we are not fixated on threat and defending ourselves, when we're not exhausted and burned out from chronic stress, we are able to see the daily evidence that we are in the midst of a mind-blowing miracle called Life....Then we will experience breathtaking, heart-rippling moments that counterbalance every trial and tribulation. When we're fully conscious of the universe's artistry and generosity, who needs psychodelics or Prozac?” - Charlette Mikulka

16. “A mind set in its ways is wasted. Don't do it.” - Eric Schmidt

17. “Start living right here, in each present moment. When we stop dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, we're open to rich sources of information we've been missing out on—information that can keep us out of the downward spiral and poised for a richer life.” - Mark Williams

18. “We have a right to decide how we want our bodies to look and feel, but unfortunately we do not exercise these rights. Instead, we tend to drift along, victims of our own ignorance of the fact that we can have what we want, if we are willing to take that first step toward developing the self-discipline to govern our thoughts.” - Holly Mosier

19. “Our culture encourages us to plan every moment and fill our schedules with one activity and obligation after the next, with no time to just be. But the human body and mind require downtime to rejuvenate. I have found my greatest moments of joy and peace just sitting in silence, and then I take that joy and peace with me out into the world.” - Holly Mosier

20. “The best sex takes place in the mind first” - Jenna Jameson

21. “Take a walk outside - it will serve you far more than pacing around in your mind.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

22. “Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

23. “Another thing I've been trying to do on my walks is to know what I'm looking at, when I'm looking at it. I want to be smart. When I walk down the sidewalk I see about a hundred different kinds of bugs and all I do is point at them like a caveman and say 'Ugh, look, a bug,' but I know each one of them must have a different name and a different reason why and how it came to be on the planet, and I don't know any of that stuff.” - Jack Gantos

24. “Mindfulness allows you to face the past with courage, whether it is scarred with pain or caressed with joy, and it gently holds you in the safe haven of the present without allowing you to become overwhelmed with what may or may not be waiting in the future.” - Deborah A. Beasley

25. “I don't talk things, sir,' said Faber. 'I talk the meaning of things. I sit here and know I'm alive.” - Ray Bradbury

26. “Vipassana meditation is an ongoing creative purification process. Observation of the moment-to-moment experience cleanses the mental layers, one after another.” - Amit Ray

27. “...mindfulness - it isn't a trick or a gimmick. It's being present in the moment. When I'm with you, I'm with you. Right now. That's all. No more and no less.” - Will Schwalbe

28. “Work done is of more consequence for the future than the foresight of an angel.” - George MacDonald

29. “Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn

30. “How you refill. Lying there. Something like happiness, just like water, pure and clear pouring in. So good you don’t even welcome it, it runs through you in a bright stream, as if it has been there all along.” - Peter Heller

31. “For men and women alike, this journey is a the trajectory between birth and death, a human life lived. No one escapes the adventure. We only work with it differently.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn

32. “Peace of mind arrives the moment you come to peace with the contents of your mind.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

33. “We're merely one tree with various types, shapes and sizes of leaves that all wave differently in the breeze” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

34. “We can’t go from zero to sixty in a day or even a week when it comes to shifting our food-habit gears. We have to take baby steps, starting with an increasing awareness of our habits and a willingness to chip away at the ones that aren’t doing us any good. Slowly, with time and commitment, we move away from the rat-race, multitasking mentality to a place where we want to give our meals and ourselves the time and attention we deserve.” - Mary DeTurris Poust

35. “So often, even when we stop to say a blessing before a meal, we’re mentally preparing to spoon some pasta or potatoes onto our plates. We’re not usually focused on the present moment, simply placing ourselves before our food and entering into the still, slow space where eating is done for eating’s sake and not something we do simply to get to the next thing on our list.” - Mary DeTurris Poust

36. “Taken slowly, or mindfully, even eating an orange or a bowl of soup, or a small piece of dark chocolate for that matter, can take on the flavor or prayer.” - Mary DeTurris Poust

37. “In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away. This can be so uncomfortable that we feel’s it’s impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but what it is to be human…we really don’t want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience. It goes against the grain to stay present. These are the times when only gentleness and a sense of humor can give us the strength to settle down…so whenever we wander off, we gently encourage ourselves to “stay” and settle down. Are we experiencing restlessness? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What’s for lunch? Stay! I can’t stand this another minute! Stay!” - Pema Chodron

38. “Create inclusion - with simple mindfulness that others might have a different reality from your own.” - Patti Digh

39. “[Some scientific] experiments…tell us that what we consider the objective world depends in some measure on our own conscious processes. There is no fixed eternal reality……… true understanding is not to be achieved with the rational mind.” - Larry Dossey