Thought of the Day – 150 Inspiring Quotes For Reflection (2024)

Top 15 Thoughts of the Day With Images

Go to table of contents

Everything happens for me, not to me. Byron Katie

There are two ways to be. One is at war with reality and the other is at peace. Byron Katie

We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far. Swami Vivekananda

A good life is a surprising life. A surprising life is one with few expectations. James Clear

Thoughts are overrated. Intuition is underrated. Maxime Lagacé

Advertisem*nt

You’re never too important to be nice to people. Jon Batiste

If life is a video game, the graphics are great, but the plot is confusing and the tutorial is way too long. Elon Musk

In a complex world, intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant. Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The most important thing is to find out what is the most important thing. Shunryu Suzuki

The game is to be where you are. Be it honestly and as consciously as you know how. Ram Dass

Advertisem*nt

When there is no desire, all things are at peace. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching, Amazon book)

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. Buddha

We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking. Santosh Kalwar

The mind without passions is a fortress. No place is more secure. Marcus Aurelius (Meditations, Amazon book)

That’s life: starting over, one breath at a time. Sharon Salzberg

The Best Thoughts of the Day

Go to table of contents

Who you think you are each day, completely determines the universe you live in. Ram Dass

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well. Jack Kornfield

What you really value is what you miss, not what you have. Jorge Luis Borges

You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action. Somerset Maugham

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The most important thing for learning is doing. The most important thing for success is saying no. The most important thing for happiness is saying yes. Maxime Lagacé

Embrace discomfort. That’s how you’ll learn, grow, become strong, and ultimately, become free. Maxime Lagacé

The greatest effort is not concerned with results. Atisha

Your desire for pleasure or happiness makes you unhappy. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

One gains by losing and loses by gaining. Zen proverb

No matter how much you try to hold on to something, it will all be gone. Taoist proverb

See Also

E.D.F. Stock (EDF) - Quote Euronext Paris- MarketScreenerFord Motor Co. Stock Price and Quote43 D-Day Quotes + Their Meanings/Explanations

Advertisem*nt

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. Buddhist proverb

Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it. Osho

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people. Thich Nhat Hanh

Craziness is good. Crazy people are happy, free, they have no hindrance. But since you have many attachment, you are only a little crazy. This is not crazy enough. You must become completely crazy. Then you will understand. Seungsahn

Wisdom tells me I am nothing, love tells me I am everything. Between the two, my life flows. Nisargadatta

The key to everything: give yourself permission to be who you really are. Susan Cain

Part 2. Thoughts of the Day That Are…

The Most Famous Thoughts of the Day (Socrates, Voltaire, Einstein, etc.)

Go to table of contents

We think too much and feel too little. Charlie Chaplin

Where does a thought go when it’s forgotten? Sigmund Freud

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

We experience ourselves our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Albert Einstein

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. Oscar Wilde

Presence is when you’re no longer waiting for the next moment, believing that the next moment will be more fulfilling than this one. Eckhart Tolle

As human beings, all 7 billion of us are born the same way and die the same way. Physically, mentally and emotionally we are the same. We all want to live a happy life and avoid problems, but in a materialistic culture we overlook the importance of love and affection. 14th Dalai Lama

Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living. Albert Einstein

I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think. Socrates

We have never arrived. We are in a constant state of becoming. Bob Dylan

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

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large. Confucius

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

I never learned anything when I was talking. Larry King

A clear rejection is always better than a fake promise. Zig Ziglar

In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion. Albert Camus

The only shame is to have none. Blaise Pascal

Don’t push the river; let the river flow. Arianna Huffington

Related: 155 The Most Famous Quotes of All Time

Short Thoughts of the Day

Go to table of contents

One-liners, short thoughts of the day, quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.

Act without expectation. Lao Tzu

Ignorance is bold. Thucydides

No clinging, no seeking. Zen proverb

To think for yourself, question yourself. Maxime Lagacé

Direction matters more than speed. Shane Parrish

Recognize and honor your uniqueness. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

You are still guided by your expectations. Chuang Tzu

A meditator is both an artist and a warrior. Thich Nhat Hanh

Some lose yet gain, others gain and yet lose. Lao Tzu

There is no quick pathway from smart to wise. Jordan Peterson

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. Alexander Hamilton

Talking is overrated. Listening is underrated. Maxime Lagacé

To find yourself, think for yourself. Socrates

Remember: eventually, no one will remember you. Jack Butcher

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. Walter Lippmann

You always admire what you really don’t understand. Blaise Pascal

The really important thing is not to reject anything. Susan Sontag

Growth is the art of failing without self-destructing. @orangebook_

Think long term. Execute short term. Appreciate the present. @TheStoicEmperor

Advertisem*nt

Inspirational Thoughts of the Day

Go to table of contents

A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us. Friedrich Nietzsche

If you want to cure the world, don’t emanate fear – emanate love. Ram Dass

The fool has many thoughts, dramatize them and becomes agitated. The wise has many thoughts, ignore most of them and stay cool-headed. Maxime Lagacé

A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. James Allen (As a Man Thinketh, Amazon book)

Look at the moon. It travels in the sky completely free, and this freedom produces beauty and happiness. Thich Nhat Hanh

The most important things in life are so simple: be good to people, cherish your friends and family, do what makes you happy, be present. Jack Altman

The present moment. It’s where high performance is expressed and wisdom is revealed. Michael Gervais

The power is in you. The answer is in you. And you are the answer to all your searches: you are the goal. You are the answer. It’s never outside. Eckhart Tolle

Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation. Use it. Ram Dass

Life’s meaning is not in following someone else, it is in the unfolding of one’s own self. It is not a process of becoming like someone else, it is to be oneself. Osho

No one is born with self-confidence. No one is born with a clear mind. No one is born with courage. They are all acquired. Decades of efforts. Just keep going. @orangebook_

Most people feel that they become more and more authentic over the course of their lives. I think that the older we get, the less we give a damn who we’re “supposed” to be. Susan Cain

Go back and take care of yourself. Your body needs you, your feelings need you, your perceptions need you. Thich Nhat Hanh

Our practice is to cultivate good seeds in the soil of our mind, knowing that they will mature and bloom in their own time. Thich Nhat Hanh

Our quality of being determines our quality of doing. Thich Nhat Hanh

There are years that ask questions, and years that answer. Zora Neale Hurston

Our deepest nature is to awaken and flower. Tara Brach

Related: 79 Positive Quotes To Uplift Yourself

Funny Thoughts of the Day

Go to table of contents

People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day. Winnie the Pooh (A. A. Milne)

To err is human; to admit it, superhuman. Doug Larson

If you want your children to listen, try talking softly to someone else. Ann Landers

I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort. Zach Galifianakis

Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed. Albert Einstein

As you get older, three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two. Sir Norman Wisdom

“That’s funny” is a nice way of letting someone know it really wasn’t. Sammy Rhodes

How many people here have telekenetic powers? Raise my hand. Emo Philips

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. Groucho Marx

Fools laugh at others. The wise laugh with others. The wisest laugh at themselves. Maxime Lagacé

Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use. Wendell Johnson

The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing. Oscar Wilde

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society. Mark Twain

Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. Mark Twain

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night. Steve Martin

Deep Thoughts of the Day

Go to table of contents

Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable. Swami Vivekananda

It’s okay to be alone, to be sad, to rest and repair. Really. Susan Cain

If only humanity made its loving as frequent and as detailed as its complaining. Philip Arnold

Brief is man’s life and small the nook of the Earth where he lives; brief, too, is the longest posthumous fame, buoyed only by a succession of poor human beings who will very soon die and who know little of themselves, much less of someone who died long ago. Marcus Aurelius

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. Lao Tzu

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable. H.L. Mencken (Prejudices: Third Series)

Money isn’t the goal. Freedom is. Kids aren’t the goal. Loving is. Talent isn’t the goal. Growth is. The goal isn’t the goal. Meaning is. @orangebook_

Little things console us because little things afflict us. Blaise Pascal

There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous. Blaise Pascal

Modern medicine is more about money than about health. Modern education is more about credentials than about learning. Modern traveling is more about social signaling than about discovery. @orangebook_

Abundance is harder for us to handle than scarcity. Nassim Nicholas Taleb

If you don’t crave for joy, misery won’t touch you. If you don’t crave for peace, nothing will disturb you. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

What makes you ‘you’? If you find this out, your life becomes an eternal celebration. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Nothing in the world can bother you as much as your own mind, I tell you. In fact, others seem to be bothering you, but it is not other, it is your own mind. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

We are prisoners of the present, in perpetual transition from an inaccessible past to an unknowable future. Neil deGrasse Tyson

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth – only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. C.S. Lewis

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. E.E. Cummings

In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act. Caroline Caldwell

Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in. Shannon L. Alder

Wise Thoughts of the Day

Go to table of contents

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself, the more peaceful you can be. Maxime Lagacé

What you are aware of, you are in control of; what you are not aware of, is in control of you. Anthony de Mello

The foolish reject what they see, not what they think; the wise reject what they think, not what they see. Huang Po

The fools have busy minds and busy calendars. The wise have quiet minds and quiet calendars. The wiser have fulfilled minds and no calendar. Maxime Lagacé

You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results. James Clear (Atomic Habits, Amazon book)

Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. Conquer the liar with truth. The Dhammapada

He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can’t know who he really is. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)

Three treasures I cherish: The first is fathomless love, the second is frugality, and the third is reluctance to lead. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)

When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is ignorance. Zhuangzi

Related: The Best Advice These 11 Successful People Ever Received (success.com)

The way of the sage is to act but not to compete. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching, Amazon book)

The future is being made out of the present, so the best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment. This is logical and clear. Thich Nhat Hanh

If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. Thich Nhat Hanh

There is the mud, and there is the lotus that grows out of the mud. We need the mud in order to make the lotus. Thich Nhat Hanh

If you follow wisdom, fun follows you. If you follow fun, misery follows you. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Food fasting fixes the body. Thought fasting fixes the mind. Judgment fasting fixes relationships. Have the courage to get less: you will get more. @orangebook_

Never assume it’s too late, but remember you don’t have forever. Johnny Uzan

Darkness is an absence of light. Ego is an absence of awareness. Osho

The power of man’s virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doings. Blaise Pascal

A man who is never foolish is not as wise as he thinks. François de La Rochefoucauld

Conclusion

Go to table of contents

It might sound pessimistic, but I remember one teacher saying to always live life with death on the side, the idea of remembering how precious life is. I think about it every day, like, “Wow, life will end for all of us.” Andy Puddicombe (Headspace)

Thoughts on using words and quotes…

I’ve been *using* quotes and beautiful words since 2004 after I lost my girlfriend in a car accident.

Because I was depressed and confused, it seemed like words had the power to guide and inspire me to attain better days.

After a couple of years of reading blogs, books, and quotes, I realized I was now on another path. A path of healing, inner peace, and acceptance.

I owe so much to people who can write beautifully.

In sum,

starting each day with a beautiful thought has helped me reflect, change and eventually live a better life.

Hope those thoughts will do the same for you.

Further Readings

• Topic: Life
• 87 Deep Quotes That Will Make You Think
• 100 Short Quotes That Will Inspire You (Fast)
• 100 One Word Quotes (For Quick Inspiration)
• 101 Two Word Quotes (Find Motivation And Inspiration)
• 130 Inspirational Quotes For Men
• 120 Inspirational Quotes For Teens To Cheer Yourself Up
• 100 Inspirational Quotes For Women To Empower You
• 75 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)
• Simple Living: 30 Ways To Simplify Your Life
• The Power Of Words – 3 Ways They Can Change Your Life

What’s your favorite thought of the day? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.