Quotes About Living In The Moment

Life moves very quickly; one day, you are five, playing at the back of your home without a care in the world; the next day, you are thirteen, trying to understand what algebra is; before you know it, you are thirty trying to get your credit score up and do your taxes. We can’t really understand how time flies till you are in the future, and you are stuck asking yourself, “how did I get here.”

However, one beauty of life is the memories we make along the way. They’re the proof that we’ve lived through something and come out on the other side. So when we are thirty and feeling the full weight of adulthood, it is those memories that will keep us warm at night.

It is those memories that will remind us that we truly lived and existed on this plain. This way, we have to live in the moment and experience everything completely, intensely, and deeply; because what is the present, if not future nostalgia.

This is why we have compiled these quotes for days when you want to remind yourself that YOLO (you only live once)! Feel free to use these quotes on Facebook or for your Instagram captions.

Forget the past and live in the present quotes

Why live in the past trying to change what you have no power over?  The past is a cesspool of memories that we have absolutely no control over. It has happened, and even though it may hurt, that is the truth.

But you see, the present is a gift. Yeah, it sounds cliché, but that is what it is, a gift.  With every new day, every new second, every new minute, we get a second chance. A second chance to be happy, exist freely and be better.  We are not saying that you have to ignore the past, quite the contrary, we’re saying that you have to accept that you cannot change it. No amount of hopeful and wishful thinking will affect what happened in the past. Instead, what you are doing is stopping yourself from enjoying the gift you have now: the present (every pun intended).

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

You don’t want to wake up one morning and find out you lost yourself in the past and, by extension, lost the present. You may never forgive yourself for that and may repeat the cycle over again.

We’re not saying it’s easier. Oh, it is hard. Trying to pull yourself out of a painful past is so hard. The failures, trauma, embarrassment, and everything in between are some of the hardest things you’d ever face.  So take it one step at a time, one day at a time, go to that party, pick that phone call, smile at that stranger, go to that cinema or just do anything you want rather than locking yourself in the chains of the past.

The past is like baggage; the longer you carry it, the heavier it is. The heavier it is, the harder it is for you to move. Carrying the past around feels like perpetually holding onto something that hurts you but not letting it go. This is more than just living in the moment; it is about allowing yourself to grow, forgiving yourself, and letting go of trauma.

The past can make you a negative person, and the thing about negativity is that after a while, it starts to leave your body. It starts to affect people around you, and you give off bad vibes. So free yourself from this.

Lucky for us, countless movies, scholars, philosophers, celebrities, and random nice internet strangers have a lot to say about letting go of the past.

“Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead–that is where your future lies.”- Ann Landers

“Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley

“The past cannot be cured.” – Elizabeth

“The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.”- Andre Maurois

“Forget the past.” – Nelson Mandela                                                   

“Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.” – Percy Bysshe Shelley

Create your future from your future not your past.” – Werner Erhard

“The past. It’s done. Move on” – Unknown

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

“Forget the past, and ask me what’s next.”-Hima Das

“In football, I have learned to forget the past, think about the present, and the future will come as it may – thinking about it would be a mistake.” – Gerard Deulofeu

“Forget the past. Save the future.”- Tim Kring

“We need to look to the future. You can’t come up with new things unless you constantly forget the past. There’s no reason to keep wearing the same pair of pants.” – Andrew Lau

“The past is past; what’s gone on has gone on.” – David Furnish

“You can’t let your past hold your future hostage.” – LL Cool J

“You can never plan the future by the past.” – Edmund Burke

“I find life is easier if I can forget the past.”- Nicholas Boxer

“No man is rich enough to buy back his past.”- Oscar Wilde

Enjoying the moment quotes

It was Avicii and Nicholas Furlong that told us in their 2014 smash hit, The Night,

One day, my father, he told me

“Son, don’t let it slip away”

He took me in his arms, I heard him say

“When you get older

Your wild heart will live for younger days….

He said, “One day, you’ll leave this world behind

So live a life you will remember”

Don’t let the life you have now slip away because you long for a better future. Many times we have plans, hopes, dreams, and aspirations about changing the world and becoming immortal people. That is all well and good, but in our pursuit of a more meaningful existence, we should not get lost in the goal. Life is more than just goal posts, it is a journey, and we have to respect it. The journey is the exciting part. It is the part that makes you laugh, cry, smile, meet new people, fail, win, become better, learn, and grow. So enjoy the moment and enjoy the process.

You don’t want to be across your finish line with nothing else to show for it, no memories with friends, nothing. The idea here is to try and find a balance between striving for a bigger and better life and enjoying the moments.

Living in the moment is not just about experiencing things as they are instead, it is about accepting what you cannot change. Allowing yourself to feel emotions deeply and fully. This includes terrible situations too; growth happens when and if we let it happen. Suppressing your feelings is not good for anyone and certainly not for you.  If you let things unfold naturally, you’ll find out that you’re happier in the end.

So, if you are reading this, maybe this is your sign to do those things you have been putting off. There will never be a perfect time, they’ll always be something else trying to take its place. So, if you can afford to enjoy yourself at the moment without any harmful effect on yourself, by all means, do it!

Here are some quotes to get you all fired up

“The great science to live happily is to live in the present.”

— Pythagoras

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” — Mother Teresa

“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.”

— Richard Bach

“Your life requires your mindful presence in order to live it. Be here now.” ― Akiroq Brost

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

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

“Focus on the present moment, not the past or the future. Empower yourself!” ― Akiroq Brost

“If you’re always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you’re in? Slow down and enjoy the moment you’re in and live your life to the fullest.”

L — Nanette Mathews

“Every moment in our lives is a miracle we should enjoy instead of ignoring.”— Yoko Ono

“Enjoy the moment. How? Don’t spend your time in perpetual planning. Or perpetual worry. Or perpetual whatever. Instead, just enjoy the moment.”— Joshua Millburn

“Breath deeply, this breath is your life. Enjoy the moment, this moment is your life. Love with your heart, let your heart be the compass of your life.”— Debasish Mridha

“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 best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.”

— Richard Bach

“The journey is never-ending. There’s always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.”

— Antonio Brown

“Enjoy today. It is one of the “good old days” you will miss in the future!”

— Etta Sawyerr

“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

“Love the moment and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.”

— Corita Kent

“The only thing that holds true happiness is that moment when you’re in it. Nothing can be controlled.”

— Eliza Doolittle

Live with no regrets quotes

Life happens, and we make mistakes, hurt people, choose the wrong dress, cheat, lie, manipulate, trust or love the wrong people and just do things that we’re not proud off. We’re multifaceted beings with good and evil and everything in between. So, we have to love every part of ourselves and understand that we’re not above being failures.

Regrets are our minds’ way of forcing ourselves to do better. However, always know that you did the best you could at that moment. If you could go back and change it, that would be swell, but unfortunately, you can’t. Life doesn’t work that way. There is no premium subscription in life that comes with a time machine to fix your mistakes. The best we can do is learn from it and move on!

Now, this does not mean that we’ll hurt people without consequences under the umbrella of no regrets. No, what we want you to do is not continuously beat yourself up over mistakes that you could not control. You deserve better than that; we all do. We want you to go into things without any fear that you may regret them. Well…newsflash, who cares?! Just do you, be happy, and choose yourself over and over again because if you don’t, who will?

Living with no regret is not just about accepting the past as it is, rather, it is about taking leaps of faith even if you don’t know what will come of it. Often in life, we may want to do things but are just too scared to do it because we’re afraid we’ll regret the decision. But that’s the beauty of living, not having any idea about what the future is and can be but still doing it regardless. Maybe you will fail, maybe you won’t. You will never know if you don’t try.

So tell that person you love them, take that career leap, or go on that trip. There’s absolutely no guarantee that it will turn out good but simply enjoy the moment and live in it! Here are some quotes we compiled to activate your inner daredevil.

“One day, perhaps, you will see for yourself that regrets are as nothing. The value lies in how they are answered.”—Steven Erikson

“Regret is the only wound the soul does not recover from.”’—Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.”—Victoria Holt

“Accept everything about yourself – I mean everything, You are you and that is the beginning and the end – no apologies, no regrets.”—Henry A. Kissinger

“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”—Shannon L. Alder

“Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.”—Katherine Mansfield

“You’re not living if you’re not regretting.”—Nicola Yoon

“At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.”—Steve Maraboli

“Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, “it might have been”.—Kurt Vonnegut

I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.—Ingrid Bergman

There are no regrets in life, just lessons.—Jennifer Aniston

I have no regrets because I know I did my best all I could do—Midori Ito

“I`ve no regrets. You take responsibility for your actions. ” — Ron Moody

“Work hard, do your best, live the truth, trust yourself, have some fun…and you`ll have no regrets.” — Byrd Bagget

“I have no regrets. Regrets are meaningless. You can`t change yesterday or tomorrow. You can change only this present moment.” — Richey Edwards

“There`s no point in regretting things. If you can`t do the time, don`t do the crime. Life`s too short to worry about things I`ve said.” —Robbie Williams

“No regrets. No looking back. Just hold onto life and move forward. We have no way of knowing what lies ahead…and that is what makes the journey even more exciting.” — Susan Gale

“At the end of the day let their be no regrets, only a desire to do more tomorrow than you did today.” — Noel Dejesus

Quotes to enjoy the little things and little moments

In the world we live today, there’s this unspoken need for things to be grand and marketable. People are constantly chasing the next big experience, the next big thing, the next shiny thing, the next goal, and accomplishments. However, life is more than just grand gestures and deep meaning. It is a myriad of countless experiences that are not as grand as you may want. We call it the beauty of the ordinary.

The beauty of the ordinary is seen everywhere we look, from the blue skies to that small coffee shop around the corner to the laugh of your little nephew. Small moments like this are happening around us every second of the day, and if you don’t look, you will not see them. So slow down, breathe, take in air, take in the sun, take in life in its rawest form.

You don’t have to be part of a grand scheme or magnanimous experience for your experience to be valid. You don’t have to long for a defining experience to live life to the fullest. You don’t have to wait for the ocean to come and fill your cup when there are little drops around you.

Take pride in the small things and enjoy them. You don’t have to go out to do it. You could sit home curled up with your favorite book, playing games with your favorite people, or simply be alone and enjoy the quietness knowing how hard you worked.

On days when you want to be reminded of the beauty of the ordinary, you could read these quotes.

“Find magic in the little things, and the big things you always expected will start to show up.”—Isa Zapata.

“It’s no big thing, but you make big things out of little things sometimes.”—Robert Duvall.

“If you can see the little things and the small details around you as big things, you’re enlightened.”—Mehmet Murat Ildan

“It’s no big thing, but you make big things out of little things sometimes.” — Robert Duval

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” — Arthur Conan Doyle

“Little strokes fell great oaks.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in the little things.” — Charles Simmons

“No matter how small and unimportant what we are doing may seem, if we do it well, it may soon become the step that will lead us to better things.” — Channing Pollock

“The foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment, instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.”—Eckhart Tolle

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”—Camille Pissarro

 “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” —John Wooden

“Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps.”—Sharon Draper.

“Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air.”—Georges Bernanos.

“The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things…the trivial pleasure like cooking, one’s home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.”— Barbara Pym.

“Without water drops, there can be no oceans; without steps, there can be no stairs; without little things, there can be no big things!”—Mehmet Murat Ildan.

“When you go through something…you learn to appreciate little things – the birds, trees, flowers.”—Grizz Chapman.

“If I love you, I show you I love you every day. Little things, big things.”— Dwayne Johnson.

“On a day-to-day level, I love watching my kids accomplish the little things that seem trivial but are really milestones: seeing my son hit a baseball or watching my daughter draw something that actually looks like what she says she’s drawing. Or hearing them say ‘I love you.’”—Matt Lauer.

Don’t get distracted and live in the moment

Sometimes in life, you get distracted because you are chasing the bag, in school, or simply going through something. But whatever it is, always remember to live in the moment. Distractions will always be there in one form or another, but how you respond to them is what truly matters.

We were not put in this world to simply exist; rather, we were put here to live life to the fullest. You cannot let the burdens of life stop you from living life. We are not saying that you shouldn’t acknowledge that problems or situations in your life that stop you from doing the things that you love doing instead, what we are saying is that you should control your life and not the other way around.

You are the architect of your own life, the master of your soul. So show it. You don’t want to wake up fifty years from now and find out that you have not made any real connection with anyone just because you were trying so hard to make money. Or wake up one morning and realize that you’ve missed out on the important moments of a child’s life.

Find a balance, prioritize what is important to you, those who are important to you, and find ways to compromise for your own happiness. Do you really need to work an extra shift? Do you really need to stay in when you could be visiting family? Is the last quarrel you had with your partner or sibling worth the silent treatments?

This also applies to negative situations that you find yourself in. It’s hard to pull yourself out of the dumps, but you just have to do it if not, life will pass you by.

When you feel overwhelmed by life and all its madness, you can look at these quotes, feel a little better, and remember what’s important.

 “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 can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.”—Thich Nhat Hanh.

“Life gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want to do if you stay in the present moment.”—Deepak Chopra.

“If you abandon the present moment, you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.”—Thich Nhat Hanh.

“There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment.”—Yamamoto Tsunetomo.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”—Eckhart Tolle.

“To live in the present moment is a miracle.”—Thich Nhat Hanh.

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

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

“Distraction wastes our energy, concentration restores it.” —Sharon Salzberg

“Thinking is good for your mind, but too much thinking leads to distraction.”—Ehabib

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”—Eddie Cantor.

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”—Eleanor Roosevelt.

“In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.”— Gordon B. Hinckley.

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

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

“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”—John Green.

Be thankful for what you have

There would always be people who are better than you, smarter than you, more good-looking than you, richer than you, and you know what? Who cares? You are better than someone, just as someone is better than you. So, don’t go comparing yourself to other people trying to make yourself feel better or worse. We are all running an individual race with our strengths and weakness, so be thankful for what you have.

There is always room for improvement but appreciate how far you’ve come and the struggle and hurdles you have faced. The silent battles you fought and everything that you did has brought you thus far, so be thankful for it. Hope for more but be content with yourself. If you bear this in mind, you will find out that you enjoy the little things more and feel a lot happier. You will find out that you will live in the moment.

Learn to appreciate your own strengths and accomplishments. They say iron sharpeneth iron. This saying is referring to people helping each other out, which is good, but sometimes you need to sharpen your own iron too. You need to blow your horn. You need to gratify yourself. Self-love is essential to be thankful for your gifts, strengths, and journey.

Being thankful also makes you more confident in your ability and skills. This is because you are more aware of where you are, and that sense of contentment makes you grounded, which gives you confidence.  And something about confidence is that it rubs off on people. So, you become a light to those around you in your own little way.

One of the signs of a life well-lived is the lives you touch and the happiness you bring. Just being thankful can create a cascade of events that lead to more positive energy in the world. So, don’t you want to be known as a bringer of joy?

We’re not going to act like this can be easy; on the contrary, we know it isn’t. To start an attitude of thanks, begin with the little things around you. Be thankful for small things like your smile, yourself, the food you cooked, etc.

If someday you don’t feel thankful, these quotes will surely make you do so.

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”zz—Eckhart Tolle

“I have a lot to be thankful for. I am healthy, happy and I am loved.”—Reba McEntire

“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.”—Frank A. Clark

“When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.”—Tecumseh

“The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.”—Margaret Mitchell

“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect. We take what we get and are thankful it’s no worse than it is.”—Willie Nelson

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

—Oprah Winfrey

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”

—John F. Kennedy

“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.”—Elie Wiesel

“Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”—Charles Dickens

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”—William Faulkner

“Strive to find things to be thankful for, and just look for the good in who you are.”—Bethany Hamilton

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

—Voltaire

“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”—Anthony Robbins

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”—Shauna Niequist

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”—Henry Ward Beecher

“Rest and be thankful.”—Dr. Seuss

Funny quotes about living in the moment

Life has a sense of humor. Sometimes it puts us in situations where we just have to laugh because there is nothing else to do. Laughter is the best medicine, so start the habit of laughter. It is one of the deepest and purest expressions of living in the moment. When you laugh, you are literally not doing anything else, just laughing. Your entire physiology and body anatomy adapt to laughing—your eyes close, your hearts beat faster, your abdominal muscles contract, your blood vessel constricts, your brain is replaying the humourous incident repeatedly, and your vocal cords open and close to release the laughter.

Take life less seriously because it really isn’t. A lot of problems you have will most likely sort themselves out without any external influence. Just you, so free yourself from the shackles of being too serious.

When you sit down and think about it, life has a lot of absurdities. We’re mammals standing on a floating rock in a vast area of absolute nothingness. In the grand scheme of the universe and galaxies and all the other cosmic occurrences, we’re a tiny speck of dust. So, don’t think that you are too big to laugh.

Just think about it; imagine hanging out with friends, family, or colleagues without any funny anecdotes to tell. Exactly! No one wants to live a life that is just black snd white. We want to live a life of spice, flavor, and beautiful colors. Think about how fascinating the world was when we were children. Don’t you want to retain that childlike sense of wonder and amazement?

This is why we have compiled some quotes to help you take life less seriously.

“One today is worth two tomorrows” — Benjamin Franklin

“Life is like homemade ice cream: sweet and seasonal. Enjoy it before it melts.” — Unknown

“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” – Richard Bach

“There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them.” – Lawrence Welk

Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth.” – Unknown

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get” – Forrest Gump

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

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

Life ain’t always beautiful, but it’s a beautiful ride. “-Gary Allan

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” —Elbert Hubbard

“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.”—Katharine Hepburn

“I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade… And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party—Ron White

“When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’—Sydney J. Harris

Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.” ― Mandy Hale

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

“Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.” ― Mandy Hale

“Instead of bracing yourself for the perils of the unknown, embrace the joy that is here, in your present moment.” ― Michelle D. Rosado

“Some moments are happy. Some moments are sad. Live each moment. Embrace life!” ― Avijeet Das

“I want to see you happy. I want you to live in the moment and smile spontaneously. Your entire face lights up. It’s beautiful.” ― Kerry Lonsdale

Conclusion

Quotes can convey meanings and emotions that sometimes we cannot truly explain ourselves. Living in the moment means different things for different people and these quotes help encapsulate all its diverse perspectives. 

We have to live in the moment because being alive is one of the greatest gifts there is. Enjoy the fullness and richness of life. Live intensely and deeply, and don’t let distractions get to you.

Understand that the past will do nothing but drag you down and that you have to let it go to grow. You should also know that you are meant to live life and not just exist. This means that you have to let go of the distractions that will try to pull you down. There are situations you will experience that may leave you feeling sad because you don’t feel like you’re where you should be. What you do here is simply be thankful for your journey. Life is about the journey and the beauty of ordinary simple things, not just about great things. So, live in the moment.