21 Quotes on Living in the Present Moment

sunset with clouds

We rounded up some of our favorite quotes to inspire you to live in the present moment.

1. Tomorrow is tomorrow.
Future cares have future cures,
And we must mind today.
-Sophocles

2. The beauty of this day doesn’t depend on its lasting forever.
-Marty Rubin

3. Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.
-Montaigne

4. Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
-Buddha

5. Yesterday is ashes.
Tomorrow is green wood.
Only today does the fire burn brightly.
-Eskimo Saying

6. Pick the day. Enjoy it – to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come… The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present – and I don’t want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.
-Audrey Hepburn

7. Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

8. I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
-Albert Einstein

9. It is a mistake to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.
-Sir Winston Churchill

10. The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today.
-Harriet Beecher Stowe

11. Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.
-Coreta Kent

12. The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back.
-Ram Dass

13. You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.
Henry David Thoreau

14. If you were conscious, that is to say totally present in the Now,
all negativity would dissolve almost instantly.
It could not survive in your presence.
-Eckhart Tolle

15. In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.
-Leonardo da Vinci

16. Remember then: there is only one time that is important– Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power. The most necessary man is he with whom you are, for no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with any one else: and the most important affair is, to do him good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life!
-Leo Tolstoy

17. Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.
-Francis Bacon

18. Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift.
-Oprah Winfrey

19. Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.
-Leo Buscaglia

20. Forever is composed of nows.
-Emily Dickinson

21. History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Image: Trey Ratcliff

Anna Brones

Anna Brones is a food + travel writer with a love for coffee and bikes. She is the author of The Culinary Cyclist and Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. Catch her weekly column, Foodie Underground.