In today’s fast-paced world where everyone is always running around in circles, it has never been easier to get caught up in our daily routine, distracting us from the actual bigger picture of life.

Because most of us are almost always tight on time, we rarely pause to put things into perspective and be “present” in life, which, believe it or not, hinders us from fully living our lives here and now!

So, what’s to be done? It’s the basic nature of life; you’re probably thinking. And I agree, but each of us owns control over a certain element that can replace distraction with mindfulness: our inner thoughts!

To drive mindfulness, I always resort to mindfulness quotes to give me the dose of inspiration and motivation that I need to achieve my inner peace and stay grounded. And since sharing is caring, I thought of compiling my favorite and most influential mindful quotations from mindful leaders and practitioners to help you, too, to live in the present moment. 

Whether you’re looking for quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat Zinn, Amit Ray, and other leaders, or simple mindfulness Monday quotes, short mindfulness quotes, mindfulness meditation quotes, or even a mindfulness quote for the day, you’ll find something your mind likes! 

We all know that mindfulness and meditation are life changers but if you don’t know where to begin, or how to begin head over to the Master Your Mind for beginners course as it will show you the simplest and easiest path to change your life using mindfulness.

Mindfulness Quotes for Work

Many overlook mindfulness when it comes to work and business issues, but truth be told, mindfulness can go a long way with productivity and de-stressing your workdays. You’ll notice yourself accomplishing more at work and appreciating the things that matter.

• “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn 
• “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” – Eckhart Tolle
• “Seeking is endless. It never comes to a state of rest; it never ceases.” – Sharon Salzberg
• “To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the small uncaring ways.” – Stephen Vincent Benet
• “In today’s rush, we all think too much, seek too much, want too much, and forget about the joy of just being.” – Eckhart Tolle
• “Look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
• “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor Frankl
• “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” – Amit Ray
• “Step outside for a while, calm your mind. It is better to hug a tree than to bang your head against a wall continually.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru
• “If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.” – Pema Chödrön
• “Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.” – Buddha
• “The basic root of happiness lies in our minds; outer circumstances are nothing more than adverse or favorable.” – Matthieu Ricard
• “The mind is just like a muscle; the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets, and the more it can expand.” – Idowu Koyenikan
• “Use every distraction as an object of meditation, and they cease to be distractions.” – Mingyur Rinpoche

Mindfulness Quotes for Teachers

Teachers can be the greatest source of inspiration for students, especially those in the early stages of their lives. However, teachers are humans, after all, with their unique set of emotions and feelings. When self-doubt and pessimism kick in due to the abundance of standards that need to be met, the below quotes on mindfulness can make a huge difference.

• “The hallmark of resiliency is the ability to harness positive emotions when we need to counter the effects of hardship.” – Patricia A Jennings
• “Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
• “Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child – our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “This is the real secret of life; to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”- Alan Watts
• “Mindful and creative, a child who has neither a past nor examples to follow, nor value judgments, simply lives, speaks, and plays in freedom.”- Arnaud Desjardins
• “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.” – Kahlil Gibran
• “I never teach my pupils. I can only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” – Albert Einstein
• “Mindfulness is paying attention, in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
• “Essentially, meditation allows us to live in ways that are less automatic. This necessarily means less time spent worrying, ruminating, and trying to control things we can’t control. It means we become less vulnerable to the throes of the fear-driven, older parts of our brains, and freer to use our newer and more sophisticated mental abilities: patience, compassion, acceptance, and reason.” – David Cain
• “If you clean the floor with love, you have given the world an invisible painting.” – Osho
• “Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”- Chuang
• “Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.” – Ramana Maharshi
• “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.” -Deepak Chopra
• “You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” – Pema Chödrön

Mindfulness Quotes for Kids

If we were aware of mindfulness since our youth, we would’ve all been in a different state of mind; one that’s accepting of the current moment and its reality. That’s why it’s best to instill mindfulness in students early on to improve their concentration, memory, and happiness while keeping them calm and focused. Make it a habit to introduce a “mindful quote of the day” for your kids.

• “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama
• “Wherever you go, there you are.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
• “Mindfulness isn’t difficult; we just need to remember to do it.” – Sharon Salzberg
• “The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “Looking at beauty in the world is the first step of purifying the mind.” – Amit Ray
• “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” -Thich Nhat Hanh
• “The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own.” – Henry Ford
• “Creativity is as boundless, spacious, and limitless as the sky. We are born with it. It cannot be lost, and it cannot be destroyed. It can only be forgotten.” – Andy Puddicombe
• “So much time and effort are spent on wanting to change, trying to change, to be somebody different, better, or new. Why not use this time to get comfortable with yourself as you are instead?” – Andy Puddicombe
• “You cannot control the results, only your actions.” – Allan Lokos
• “Don’t believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that; thoughts.” – Allan Lokos
• “There is something wonderfully bold and liberating about saying yes to our entire imperfect and messy life.” – Tara Brach
• “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 is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” – James Baraz

Mindfulness Quotes About Being Present

When it really comes down to it, mindfulness is all about living in the present moment. The overarching goal is to allow your mind to live now and enjoy life as it is, without dwelling on the past or worrying about tomorrow. The below positive mindfulness quotes are here to serve that exact purpose!

• “I always live in the present. The future I can’t know. The past I no longer have.” – Fernando Pessoa
• “To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “The past has no power over the present moment.” – Eckhart Tolle
• “Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance.” – Amit Ray
• “If you want to conquer overthinking, bring your mind to the present moment and reconnect it with the immediate world.”- Amit Ray
• “When we are lost in delusion, it’s hard to see even the most obvious truths.” – Jack Kornfield
• “Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior’s world.” – Pema Chödrön
• “Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.” – Pema Chödrön
• “Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns. We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day, we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.” – Tara Brach
• “Consider how the sky is unharmed by the clouds that pass through it, whether they are light and fluffy-looking or dark and formidable. A mountain is not moved by the winds blowing over it, whether gentle or fierce. The ocean is not destroyed by the waves moving on its surface, whether high or low. In just that way, no matter what we experience, some aspect of ourselves remains unharmed. This is the innate happiness of awareness.” – Sharon Salzberg 
• “What would it be like if I could accept life–accept this moment–exactly as it is?” – Tara Brach
• “When we can’t let the moment in front of us be what it is (because we’re afraid that if it’s good, it’ll end too soon; if it’s bad, it’ll go on forever; and if it’s neutral, it’ll bore us to tears), we’re out of balance. Mindfulness restores that balance; we catch our habitual reactions of clinging, condemning, and zoning out, and let them go.” – Sharon Salzberg
• The experience of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral is the consequence of perception.” – Allan Lokos
• “When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice. Only in this moment can we discover that which is timeless. Only here can we find the love that we seek. Love in the past is simply memory, and love in the future is fantasy. Only in the reality of the present can we love, can we awaken, can we find peace and understanding and connection with ourselves and the world.” – Jack Kornfield 
• “The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle.” – Tara Brach

Mindfulness Quotes About Being Present for Others

A big chunk of leading a mindfulness life includes not only being present for ourselves but also for others. Indirectly, helping and supporting others is a mindfulness practice that contributes to our own self-improvement as well; and that’s something we need to remember. Here are some of my treasured and inspiring mindfulness quotes to drive you to the next good deed.

• “Practice sharing the fullness of your being, your best self, your enthusiasm, your vitality, your spirit, your trust, your openness, and above all, your presence. Share it with yourself, with your family, with the world.” – Jon Kabat Zinn
• “You hold in your hand an invitation: to remember the transforming power of forgiveness and loving kindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart, peace is possible.”- Jack Kornfield
• “Genetically speaking, we are one people. The two most seemingly different people in the world are virtually identical from the point of their genes. At most, about one in a thousand nucleotides in our DNA are different between the blackest and the whitest, the tallest and the shortest of us. We are 99.9 percent the same. We are one tribe, one family, but have yet to recognize it. We, humans, are all intimately interconnected. How we treat each other matters to the health and well-being, perhaps even the survival, of us all as a species, not in some vague future, but in this very moment.” – Jon Kabat Zinn
• “Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.” – Sally Koch
• “There is no use whatsoever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself.” – Andrew Carnegie
• “Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.” – William Arthur Ward
• “When you become detached mentally from yourself and concentrate on helping other people with their difficulties, you will be able to cope with your own more effectively. Somehow, the act of self-giving is a personal power-releasing factor.” – Norman Vincent Peale
• “At the end, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” – Denzel Washington
• “Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” – Robin Sharma
• “There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.”- Mandy Hale
• “When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” – Pauline R. Kezer
• “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.” – Shannon L. Alder
• “The next time you want to withhold your help, or your love, or your support for another for whatever the reason, ask yourself a simple question: do the reasons you want to withhold it reflect more on them or on you? And which reasons do you want defining you forevermore?”- Dan Pearce
• “If you haven’t done much giving in your life – try it and see how you feel afterwards.” – Michelle Moore

Here are some of our other related posts regarding mindfulness:

6 Easy Mindfulness Exercises For Anxiety

Mindful Eating Tips and Tricks for Long-Term Weight Loss

Final Thoughts

At one point or another, we struggle to live in the present moment. When you feel that happening, remember that you need mindfulness practice. Mindfulness practice can even be as simple as reading mindful quotes like the ones in this post.

With time, if you practice mindfulness every day and make a note to read some “mindfulness quotes of the day,” for example, you’ll reap the benefits and witness the power of mindfulness in your life. 

And remember, it’s not difficult; we just need to make it a habit. Just like anything else, practice makes perfect, and the first-rate mindfulness quotes I’ve provided you with here can serve as an ideal starting point. 

Stay focused, inspired, and motivated!