What if this moment was enough? What if, above your struggle, there was joy? And beneath your pain, there was peace?

What if, in the middle of everything... there's love?

I think there is.

But if you don't feel that peace, that love, and you’re tired of running from one to-do to the next, read these quotes about living in the moment.

And remember: you are enough too.

Try making the present moment a friend. Embrace it as part of the adventure. You might even make a friend out of yourself.

50 Powerful Quotes about Living in the Moment

1. “My past and my future depends on today.” – Trevor Hall, Origami Crane

2. “History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that’s worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.” – Henry Ford

3. “Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.” – Cherokee Indian Proverb

4. “The next message you need is always right where you are.” – Ram Dass

5. “Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

6. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” – Buddha

7. “Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.” – Jean de La Bruyère

8. “Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.” – Coreta Kent

9. “Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.” – Eckhart Tolle

10. “The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, “what is” is what we want.” – Byron Katie

11. “The meeting of two eternities, the past and the future… is precisely the present moment.” – Henry David Thoreau

12. “The first recipe for happiness is: Avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.” – André Maurois

13. “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.” – Leo Tolstoy

14. “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

15. “The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.” – Abraham Maslow

16. “Past and future are in the mind only – I am now.” – Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

17. “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

18. “The past is never there when you try to go back. It exists, but only in memory. To pretend otherwise is to invite a mess.” – Chris Cobbs

19. “People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” – Albert Einstein

20. “One today is worth two tomorrows.” – Benjamin Franklin

21. “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” —Thornton Wilder

22. “There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday.” – Robert Nathan, So Love Returns

23. “Having spent the better part of my life trying either to relive the past or experience the future before it arrives, I have come to believe that in between these two extremes is peace.” – Author Unknown

24. “Forever is composed of nows.” – Emily Dickinson

25. “You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.” – Jan Glidewell

26. “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

27. “Today is life -- the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.” – Dale Carnegie

28. “Living in the present moment creates the experience of eternity.” ― Deepak Chopra

29. “Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment–this day–is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day–each moment of this day–a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity.” – Dan Custer

30. “Don’t let the past steal your present.” – Cherralea Morgen

31. “Stress is the distance between where your thoughts are and where your life is happening.” ― Dean Jackson

32. “It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis.” – Margaret Bonnano

33. “Happiness, not in another place but this place… not for another hour, but this hour.” ― Walt Whitman

34. “Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here right now. Don’t miss it.” – Leo Buscaglia

35. “Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.” – James Thurber

36. “You are only here now; you’re only alive in this moment.” ― Jon Kabat-Zinn

37. “If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.” – Author Unknown

38. “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.” – Eckhart Tolle

39. “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

40. “The living moment is everything.” – D.H. Lawrence

41. “Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman

42. “Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment. Fully alive, fully aware.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

43. “We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don’t think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you’re hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.” – Art Buchwald

44. “Nothing is worth more than this day.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

45. “… The foundation for greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.” – Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

46. “We know nothing of tomorrow; our business is to be good and happy today.” – Sydney Smith

47. “There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can give all our attention to the opportunity before us.” – Mark Van Doren

48. “The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

49. “I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” – Alan Watts

50. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” – Alice Morse Earle

. . .

Tell me:

Which of these quotes is your favorite?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I’d love to know!

With love,

Jen

P.S. Need helping letting go of everything at the end of the day? Get my book Sleep Rituals: 100 Practices for a Deep and Peaceful Sleep. You’ll get meditations, prayers, and other self-care tools to help you release the stress and get some rest. You deserve that.