By Maxime Lagacé
Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.
Top 10 Quotes – Short – Inspirational – Life – More Quotes – Visual – Takeaways – Video – Further Readings
Here are 100 of the best mindfulness quotes I could find.
And you will learn a ton.
The insights in these quotes can help you:
- Focus better
- Have less stress
- Have less rumination
- Boost your working memory
- Have less emotional reactivity
- Have more self-understanding
So, what more could we ask for?
Indeed, mindfulness has many benefits.
You’ll hear from some of the greatest minds in mindfulness:
- Rumi
- Osho
- Mooji
- Eckhart Tolle
- Dalai Lama
- Alan Watts
- Ram Dass
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- And many more
Let these words inspire you on your mindfulness journey.
Are you ready?
Let’s begin!
Top 10 Mindfulness Quotes
Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Things that have a consciousness are higher than those that don’t. Marcus Aurelius
The quieter you become, the more you can hear. Ram Dass
Let go of your mind and then be mindful. Rumi
Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. Sylvia Boorstein
Life is a river. Mindfulness is the awareness that allows you to appreciate the flow. Maxime Lagacé
Now is the only reality. All else is either memory or imagination. Osho
The wiser you get, the more detached and grounded you become. Maxime Lagacé
There is a great beauty in observation, in seeing things as they are. Jiddu Krishnamurti
This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. Alan Watts
Short Mindfulness Quotes
Wherever you are, be all there. Ram Dass
Be devoted to heedfulness. Guard your mind. The Dhammapada
Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment. Chögyam Trungpa
Empathy is the new mindfulness. Scott Barry Kaufman
Observe without division. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Conscious breathing is my anchor. Thich Nhat Hanh
Just because our eyes are open does not mean we are awake. Haemin Sunim
Stop doing. Start being. Maxime Lagacé
Any moment can be a meditation if you are in control of your attention. James Clear
Having no destination, I am never lost. Ikkyu
The present moment contains the fullness of space. Sahil Lavingia
Imagine witnessing every situation, person, and thing just as it is. Byron Katie
The mad mind does not halt. If it halts, it is enlightenment. Zen proverb
Die each moment so that you are renewed each moment. Osho
When you can bear your own emptiness, you are free. Mooji
The past has no power over the present moment. Eckhart Tolle
Normalize listening more than you talk. Maxime Lagacé
Truly, just sit…That’s all there is. Motoko Ikebe
Observing, not absorbing. Maryam Hasnaa
Related
- 100 Spiritual Quotes To Nourish Your Soul
- 89 Reality Quotes To Be More Rational And Grounded
- 100 Meditation Quotes (For Less Stress And More Calmness)
Inspirational Mindfulness Quotes
Noise brings confusion. Silence brings clarity. Maxime Lagacé
Look at things as they are, not as your emotions color them. Robert Greene
You cannot control the results, only your actions. Allan Lokos
When the mind is completely aware it becomes extraordinarily silent, quiet; it is not asleep, but highly awake in that silence. Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you learn to just sit and become completely present, you naturally become completely quiet, with none of that jazz going on inside. A person who can’t really sit as if there were nothing else to do also won’t be able to act because he’ll never be completely all here. Alan Watts
You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind until it stops altogether. Once the mind is quiet, keep it quiet. Don’t get bored with peace, be in it, go deeper in it. Nisargadatta Maharaj
When you breathe in mindfully, there is a happy reunion between body and mind. This doesn’t take any fancy technique. Thich Nhat Hanh
The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. Thich Nhat Hanh
When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love. Thich Nhat Hanh
It is up to the most conscious person in the situation to break the chain of reactivity. Ram Dass
When you step outside your mind you can relax and just witness the show. Unknown
Mindfulness meditation is a matter of rewiring your brain so that instead of primarily being rewarded by the possibility of reward, you are intrinsically rewarded by all of the beauty that already exists at any given moment right in front of your eyes or in your rich imagination. Scott Barry Kaufman
Practice of mindfulness is like a boat and by practicing mindfulness you offer yourself a boat and you will not sink in a river of suffering. Thich Nhat Hanh
If you listen completely, entirely, wholly, at the actual moment of listening there is no confusion, and that moment is enough. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Inner emptiness is not a void to be filled with comforts; it is a window to be looked through. Alan Watts
You can discover truth only if you are willing to give your whole mind and heart to it, not a few moments of your easily spared time. Jiddu Krishnamurti
The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. Eckhart Tolle
Mindfulness is clarity. Clarity of thought. Clarity of intent. Clarity of action. When you possess this level of clarity you are able to be in control of most levels of your life. And being in control is one of the most powerful feelings one can experience. Adrian Lliopoulos
Is it possible for the mind each day to be so totally aware that problems no longer exist? Jiddu Krishnamurti
By silencing the mind, we can experience real peace. Henepola Gunaratana
Related: What is Mindfulness? (mindful.org), Getting Started with Mindfulness (mindful.org)
Mindfulness Quotes About Life
The first important step into the now is to become aware of whatever surrounds you. Eckhart Tolle
Life is a path. Mindfulness is the awareness of each step along the way. Maxime Lagacé
In trading the pleasures of an ordinary life for a meditative life, you’re trading candy for gold. Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. Carl Jung
It is the most beautiful moment in one’s life when there is neither confusion nor certainty. One simply is – a mirror reflecting that which is. With no direction to go anywhere, with no idea of doing something, with no future – just utterly in the moment, tremendously in the moment. Osho
Your life should be a continuous death and a continuous resurrection, so that you remain fresh to the very last breath. Osho
The moment you try to correct what is, you are bringing disorder. But if you merely observe actually what is, then what is is order. Jiddu Krishnamurti
If we are unduly absorbed in improving our lives we may forget altogether to live them. Alan Watts
Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama. Ram Dass
Only those who have cultivated the art of living completely in the present have any use for making plans for the future. For when the plans mature they will be able to enjoy the results. Alan Watts
The inner peace of an alert and calm mind are the source of real happiness and good health. 14th Dalai Lama
Mindfulness practice is not an evasion or an escape. It means entering vigorously into life — with the strength generated by the energy of mindfulness. Without this freedom and concentration, there is no happiness. Thich Nhat Hanh
We try to fix the outside so much, but our control of the outer world is limited, temporary, and often, illusory. Matthieu Ricard
Mindfulness is the kind of light that shows us the way. It is the living Buddha inside of each of us. Mindfulness gives birth to insight, awakening, compassion, and love. Thich Nhat Hanh
It is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head. David Foster Wallace (This Is Water, fs.blog)
When I dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep; yes, and when I walk alone in a beautiful orchard, if my thoughts drift to far-off matters for some part of the time for some other part I lead them back again to the walk, the orchard, to the sweetness of this solitude, to myself. Michel de Montaigne
Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance. Amit Ray
The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way: Nothing is worth holding on to. Jack Kornfield
Allowing the new to happen means putting aside your memory so the past does not interfere. Osho
In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived. How well we have loved. How well we have learned to let go. Jack Kornfield
Mindfulness meditation helps you tackle every little problem one by one with equanimity and presence rather than worry about 100 problems all at once and never do anything about anything. Scott Barry Kaufman
Clarity and decisiveness come from the willingness to slow down, to listen and look at what’s happening. Pema Chödrön
Your goal is not to battle with the mind, but to witness the mind. Swami Muktananda
More Quotes About Mindfulness
Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it. Sharon Salzberg
When sitting in meditation, say, “That’s not my business!” with every thought that comes by. Ajahn Chah
Look at yourself, observe yourself; do not beat yourself, but observe. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Observe your reaction, do not call it good or bad. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Be aware of your breathing. Notice how this takes attention away from your thinking and creates space. Eckhart Tolle
Right mindfulness is not a tool or an instrument, but a path. Right mindfulness is not a means that can be used to arrive at an end. Thich Nhat Hanh
To go out of your mind once a day is tremendously important, because by going out of your mind you come to your senses. Alan Watts
Use every distraction as an object of meditation and they cease to be distractions. Mingyur Rinpoche
No thought, no mind, no choice – just being silent, rooted in yourself. Osho
To understand music, you must listen to it. But so long as you are thinking, “I am listening to this music,” you are not listening. Alan Watts
Can this mind, which is the result of time, of various cultures, experiences and knowledge, look with eyes that are not conditioned? Jiddu Krishnamurti
Every day has its drama. If you are waiting for a day without drama, you are waiting for death. Mindfulness is what gives us the space to meet all drama without tension. While we can’t always be free of drama, we can be free from the effects of it. It’s called peace of mind. Thibaut
It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it. Sylvia Boorstein
Meditation is not about achieving anything. It’s about letting go, being at ease with whatever arises. Andy Puddicombe
The future is a concept – it doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be because time is always now. That’s one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now. Alan Watts
As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is. Ram Dass
Learning to pause is the first step in the practice of Radical Acceptance. A pause is a suspension of activity, a time of temporary disengagement when we are no longer moving toward any goal. Tara Brach
Being mindful means that we suspend judgment for a time, set aside our immediate goals for the future, and take in the present moment as it is rather than as we would like it to be. J. Mark G. Williams (The Mindful Way through Depression, Amazon book)
If we want to become mindful, rather than just knowing about mindfulness, we need to establish our own regular practice. Thich Nhat Hanh
It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive, day in and day out. David Foster Wallace (This Is Water)
A serious mind can never be in the present. Only a playful mind, only children, are in the present. So be more childlike… play more. Osho
When the mind is nowhere it is everywhere. Zen proverb
Become comfortable with silence. Maxime Lagacé
Conclusion
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. This kind of attention nurtures greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of the present-moment reality. It wakes us up to the fact that our lives unfold only in moments. If we are not fully present for many of those moments, we may not only miss what is most valuable in our lives but also fail to realize the richness and the depth of our possibilities for growth and transformation. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Visual For Mindfulness Quotes
You can’t be mindful when your mind’s full. Jack Butcher
In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality. Thich Nhat Hanh
With mindfulness we can see the poetry and beauty all around us. We can see the miracles of life. Thich Nhat Hanh
Visual by: Ash Lamb
Key Takeaways
- Mindfulness is the art of being present and accepting the moment, as it is.
- It’s easy to be lost in thoughts. It’s hard to be in the moment. That’s why most people are deluded.
- Who is wise? The ones who observe. The ones detached from their thought patterns.
- The benefits of mindfulness?
- Less stress
- More focus
- Fewer ruminations
- The ultimate benefit? Inner peace.
Video About Mindfulness And Meditation With Naval Ravikant
Further Readings
- Topic: Happiness
- 91 Mind Quotes To Make You Wiser
- Less stress, and clearer thoughts with mindfulness meditation (news.harvard.edu)
- What is Mindfulness: Benefits, How to Practice, and More (healthline.com)
- Cultivate Mindfulness at Home: Stress-Reduction for the Whole Family (porch.com)
- 75 Letting Go Quotes To Help You Live Free
- How To Be Happy
- How To Improve Your Mental Health
I hope you enjoyed these beautiful mindfulness quotes.
If you did, please share them with a friend today!
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