87 Deep Quotes That Will Make You Think (2023 Update)

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder and chief editor of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm, powerful, and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

I’ve spent over 10 000+ hours curating the best quotes.

The result?

Thousands of great quotes organized by topic.

But only a few are truly deep and thought-provoking.

Here are 87 of the best deep quotes I’ve collected since 2004 after my girlfriend died in a car accident.

Why should you read these quotes?

You’ll think deeply about life
You’ll better understand yourself
You’ll gain peace and wisdom

You’ll discover deep thinkers like Voltaire, Lao Tzu, Rumi, Mary Oliver, Einstein, and lots more.

Enjoy!

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. Oscar Wilde

The average men consume. The wise create. Maxime Lagacé

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. Oscar Wilde

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work. Gustave Flaubert

The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of life is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give. William Arthur Ward

Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy. Robert A. Heinlein

Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time”, is like saying, “I don’t want to”. Lao Tzu

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. Martin Luther

Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots. Rumi

deep quotes never suffer have been blessed edgar allan poe wisdom

Never to suffer would never to have been blessed. Edgar Allan Poe

Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so. Bertrand Russell

To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. Søren Kierkegaard

He who is untrue to his own cause cannot command the respect of others. Albert Einstein

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. Mark Twain

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. Oscar Wilde

We can see through others only when we can see through ourselves. Bruce Lee

Listen to the people who are most quiet. Sahil Lavingia

Genius is the recovery of childhood at will. Arthur Rimbaud

Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God. Victor Hugo

deep quotes pay attention endless proper work mary oliver wisdom

To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work. Mary Oliver

The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. Japanese proverb

To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eyes of others. Criss Jami

Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real. Neils Bohr

God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. Voltaire

I don’t care that they stole my idea. I care that they don’t have any of their own. Nikola Tesla

Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed. Friedrich Nietzsche

What makes night within us may leave stars. Victor Hugo

Are you afraid of the good you might do? Victor Hugo

Dreams have only one owner at a time. That’s why dreamers are lonely. William Faulkner

Stupidity lies in wanting to draw conclusions. Gustave Flaubert

If I love myself I love you. If I love you I love myself. Rumi

Related

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. Voltaire

The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear. Rumi

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. Rumi

Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters. Victor Hugo

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know. Lao Tzu

All generalizations are dangerous, even this one. Alexandre Dumas

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Kahlil Gibran

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. William Faulkner

I can resist anything except temptation. Oscar Wilde

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. Seneca

People do not lack strength; they lack will. Victor Hugo

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit. Kahlil Gibran

A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. Kurt Vonnegut

Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one. Voltaire

Always go too far, because that’s where you’ll find the truth. Albert Camus

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect). Mark Twain

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. Lao Tzu

Don’t settle, and don’t struggle. Naval Ravikant

Conscience doth make cowards of us all. William Shakespeare

Average people know how. Wise people know why. Maxime Lagacé

What labels me, negates me. Søren Kierkegaard

The merit of all things lies in their difficulty. Alexandre Dumas

What you truly need is not stuff, comfort or ease, but meaning. Maxime Lagacé

Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion. Edward Abbey

You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do. Carl Jung

Success is an iceberg. Unknown

A question asked is worth more than an answer received. James Pierce

Passion is born deaf and dumb. Honoré de Balzac

Close both eyes to see with the other eye. Rumi

Overrated: inspiration. Underrated: discipline. Sahil Lavingia

Take time like the river that never grows stale. Keep going and steady. No hurry, no rush. Rumi

Of all lies, art is the least untrue. Gustave Flaubert

The darker the night, the brighter the stars. Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education. Victor Hugo

Nothing has more strength than dire necessity. Euripides

The past is never dead. It’s not even past. William Faulkner

I stick my finger into existence and it smells of nothing. Søren Kierkegaard

They muddy the water, to make it seem deep. Friedrich Nietzsche

No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell. Carl Jung

Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is. Albert Camus

Wisdom is observing pain and accepting it. Maxime Lagacé

Arm yourself, my heart: the thing that you must do is fearful, yet inevitable. Euripides

There is no truth. There is only perception. Gustave Flaubert

What if everything in the world were a misunderstanding, what if laughter were really tears? Søren Kierkegaard

All the problems of older times were scarcity… now they’re all abundance based. Naval Ravikant

When you’re young, you want to be rich. When you’re rich, you want to be young. James Pierce

Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality. Bertrand Russell

To be sane in a world of madman is in itself madness. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

deep quotes whatever feel become responsibility osho wisdom

Whatever you feel, you become. It is your responsibility. Osho

Civilization is a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing. Euripides (Related: How to Ask the Right Question in the Right Way, entrepreneur.com)

The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer. Terence McKenna

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. Ernest Hemingway

People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing. Naval Ravikant

The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius. Oscar Wilde

You can only see clearly when you close your eyes. Maxime Lagacé

One day you will die. All of this will end. All there is to do is play. James Pierce

Key Takeaways

Life is change. But your ego wants certainty. You’ll improve your life by making discomfort your friend.
Conforming is dying. Rebelling is living. Be you.
Pain is a gift. It’s a springboard to a better life.
Fools have answers. The wise have questions.
Bored? Slow down. Look carefully.

A few thoughts on deep thinking…

I’ve always loved words that inspire and make me think.

In fact, I started collecting quotes and journaling back in 2004 after I lost my girlfriend in a car accident.

I was in search of answers and I felt reading thoughts by people like Confucius, Plato, Einstein, and Bruce Lee was helping me in this process.

Then, I discovered more modern thinkers and writers like Leo Babauta, Shane Parrish, Tim Ferriss, and more recently Naval Ravikant.

Through their words, I found some guidance for dealing with my problems and making better decisions.

In sum,

collecting quotes, journaling, reflecting, and meditating had a big positive effect on my life and my mental health.

And I still have these habits today.

I can’t imagine my life without doing these.

What is your process to reflect and grow?

Key Takeaways

A few thoughts on deep thinking…

Further Readings