20 Inspiring Quotes for a Present, Joyful and Authentic Life

Inspiring quotes are not just these superficial repostable happy vibes plates. To me they are little treasures of wisdom, conveying the deepest and purest messages with such few words in a meaningful way. I sometimes stumble over one, and my whole day changes in that very second…

I have been asked where I find the quotes that accompany some of my Instagram posts, so I decided to make a little collection of quotes for you of some of my favorite teachers and writers that I came across in books and online over the past years.

Print, copy, share them or keep them to yourself. Read them out loud or whisper them to someone who might need them right now or keep them silently in your heart.

True Self – Authentic Life

1. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.
Maya Angelou

2. At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.
Lao Tzu

3. Don’t worry about anything at all. You are not here by accident. This form is just a costume for a while. But the one who is behind the costume, this one is eternal. You must know this. If you know this and trust this, you don’t have to worry about anything. This world is so full of love. And your heart, your being, is so full of love, so full of peace. You don’t have to go to someplace else to find peace. It is right where you are.
Mooji

4. When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
Rumi

5. Most importantly love, like it's the only thing you know how. At the end of the day all this means nothing, this page, where you're sitting, your degree, your job, the money, nothing even matters except love and human connection. Who you lovedand how deeply you loved them, how you touched the people around you and how much you gave them.
Rupi Kaur

6. I think it’s beautiful the way you sparkle when you talk about the things you love.
Atticus

7. Three things that can’t be rushed: creativity, healing, love.
Yung Pueblo

Be Present – Be Here Now

8. Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion.
Buddha

9. Don’t be a storehouse of memories. Leave past, future and even present thoughts behind. Be a witness to life unfolding by itself. Be free of all attachments, fears and concerns by keeping your mind inside your own heart. Rest in being. Like this, your life is always fresh and imbued with pure joy and timeless presence. Be happy, wise and free.
Mooji

10. The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.
Alan Watts

11. Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. Thich Nath Hanh

12. Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.
Eckhart Tolle

Body-Mind Connection

13. The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.
Bks Iyengar

14. Go inside and listen to your body, because your body will never lie to you. Your mind will play tricks, but the way you feel in your heart, in your guts, is the truth.
Don Miguel Ruiz

15. The mind & body are not separate entities. The gross form of the mind is the body & the subtle form of the body is the mind. The practice of asana integrates & harmonizes the two. Both the body & the mind harbor tensions or knots. Every mental knot has a corresponding physical, muscular knot & vice versa. The aim of asana is to release these knots. Asana release mental tensions by dealing with them on the physical level, acting somato-psychically, through the body to the mind.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati

16. Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.
BKS Iyengar


Law of Attraction

17. If you notice something good, you must make it grow - whether it is within you or around you.
Sadhguru

18. What you, think you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.
Buddha

19. Stop asking others to be the change that you need in order to feel better.
That is the freedom that you are looking for.
Abraham Hicks

20. Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath. You will suffocate. The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go of it. Let go and it will be yours forever.
Deepak Chopra

Pictures: Daniel Willis (Quotes added by Jenny Hirtz)