94 Deep Quotes to Inspire and Make You Think

It’s easy to go through life without pausing to think deeply or develop our perspective beyond daily tasks and to-dos. Yet, taking the time to sit with meaningful aphorisms and philosophical ideas can be very rewarding. They can help us live more intentionally and give us words to describe the ineffable.

If you’re looking for thought-provoking sayings, or words of wisdom that make you reflect, this list of deep quotes is for you.

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What are deep quotes?

Deep quotes are lines from literature, poetry, speeches, song lyrics, or films that make you think due to their profound or philosophical meanings. Deep quotes can also describe excerpts that speak to powerful emotions such as the love you feel for someone.

Deep quotes about life

Deep quotes about life include words of wisdom from poets, philosophers, and physicists. They invite us to think beyond ourselves about what it means to be alive, or offer advice about how to navigate life’s many uncertainties.

1. “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything.” —Rainer Maria Rilke, poet
2. “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” —Max Ehrmann, writer and poet
3. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ―Albert Einstein, physicist
4. “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, philosopher and writer
5. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” —Albert Camus, author and journalist
6. “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” —Søren Kierkegaard, theologian and philosopher
7. class=”pb-2″“An unexamined life is not worth living.” —Socrates, philosopher
8. “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” —Confucius, philosopher
9. “It is a serious thing / just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.” —Mary Oliver, poet
10. To be, or not to be, that is the question:
    Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
    The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
    Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
    And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
    No more
    —William Shakespeare, playwright

Powerful deep quotes

Powerful deep quotes expand the way we think and challenge us to go beyond the self evident. This list of proverbs and words by artists, scientists, philosophers is bound to stick with you long after you read it.

1. “If you wish to bake an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.” —Carl Sagan, astronomer and planetary scientist
2. “God is the indwelling and not the transient cause of all things.” —Baruch Spinoza, philosopher
3. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart .” —Helen Keller, author
4. “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.” —William Blake, poet and painter
5. “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” —Arundhati Roy, author
6. “The forest was shrinking, yet the trees kept voting for the ax; for the ax was clever, and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them.” —Turkish proverb
7. “When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.” —Cree proverb
8. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” —Annie Dillard, author
9.  “I connect with everything, but I’m not attached to anything.” —Alysia Liu, figure skater
10. “They taught us at Barnard about that word, utopia. The Greeks had two meanings for it: ‘eu-topos’, meaning ‘the good place’, and ‘ou-topos’, meaning ‘the place that cannot be.'” —Mad Men (2007)

Deep love quotes for him

Deep love quotes for him focus on articulating profound romantic feelings for a significant other. They’re perfect for anniversaries, Valentine’s Day cards, or for simply helping express how you feel.

1. “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” ―Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights
2. “Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.” ―Jorge Luis Borges, writer
3. “The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind I was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” —Rumi, mystic and poet
4. “I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, philologist and author of The Lord of the Rings
5. “In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.” —Bruce Lee, martial artist and actor
6. “If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one.” —Michelle Hodkin, author of The Evolution of Mara Dyer
7. “You don’t find love, it finds you. It’s got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what’s written in the stars.”―Anaïs Nin, diarist and essayist
8. “Love is the art of seeing eternity in a fleeting glance, a timeless dance without steps.” ―Aloo Denish Obiero, scientist and writer
9. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” —Lao Tzu, philosopher
10. “The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.” —Jiddu Krishnamurti, philosopher

Deep love quotes for her

Similarly, deep love quotes for her express profound romantic feelings you have for your partner. Share these romantic quotes to let her know how much you care—whether on a special occasion or just to brighten her day.

1. “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” ―Leo Tolstoy, author of Anna Karenina
2. “I’ve never had a moment’s doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.” —Ian McEwan, author of Atonement
3. “It seems right now that all I’ve ever done in my life is making my way here to you.” —Graeme Simsion, author and screenwriter
4. “Love is a portion of the soul itself, and it is of the same nature as the celestial breathing of the atmosphere of paradise.” —Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables
5. “I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again…and when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me.” —Philip Pullman, author of The Amber Spyglass 
6. “Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. … If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth.” —Thich Nhat Hanh, monk
7. “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” —Maya Angelou, writer and civil rights activist
8. “In many ways, unwise love is the truest love. Anyone can love a thing because. That’s as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect.” —Patrick Rothfuss, author
9. “she asked / ‘you are in love, / what does love look like?’ / to which i replied, / ‘like everything i’ve ever lost / come back to me.’” ―Nayyirah Waheed, poet
10. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, / My love as deep; the more I give to thee, / The more I have, for both are infinite.” ―William Shakespeare, playwright

Deep motivational quotes

Deep motivational quotes help us to tap into reserves of energy and drive we didn’t know were there. They challenge us by reminding us of who we are and what we are capable of. Read them when you’re ready to face your dreams.

1. “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” —Mary Oliver, poet
2. “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” —Sylvia Plath, poet and author
3. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.” —Charlotte Brontë, novelist
4. “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” —Karl Marx, philosopher
5. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” —C.S. Lewis, author
6. “A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” —John A. Shedd, author
7. “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” —Dylan Thomas, poet and writer
8. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.” —George Adair, developer
9. “For what it’s worth… it’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist
10. “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” —Ernest Hemingway, novelist and short story writer
11. “You can kill a man, but you can’t kill an idea.” —Medgar Evers, civil rights activist

Deep self quotes

Deep self quotes invite us to look within and know ourselves better. They offer comfort in times of vulnerability to reframes for how we think and what we choose to focus on. In addition, they can serve as self-love quotes and affirmations.

1. “The one who’s in love always wins. It doesn’t matter if you get your heart broken. You’re living. When you’re feeling, you’re alive. The sun doesn’t care whether the grass appreciates its rays. It just keeps on shining.” —Ethan Hawke, actor and writer
2. “The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” —Robert M. Pirsig, writer and philosopher
3. “Be softer with you. You are a breathing thing, A memory to someone. A home to a life.” —Nayirrah Waheed, poet
4. “How you love yourself is / how you teach others / to love you” ―Rupi Kaur, poet and illustrator
5. “Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.” ―Audre Lorde, writer and professor
6. “People can only meet you as deep as they’ve met themselves.” —Matt Kahn, author
7. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ―George Bernard Shaw, playwright and critic
8. “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.” —Walt Whitman, poet and essayist
9. “At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” —Lao Tzu, philosopher
10. “Nobody knows what’s wrong with themselves, and everyone else can see it right away.” —Mad Men (2007)

Deep family quotes

Deep family quotes describe the unique and complex bonds we share with family. They also invite reflection on what makes a family. Share these quotes with your loved ones—whether biological or chosen.

1. “You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn’t depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.” —Trenton Lee Stewart, author
2. “A mother understands what a child does not say.” —Jewish Proverb
3. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Leo Tolstoy, writer
4. “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” —George Santayana, philosopher and essayist
5. “The capacity for friendship is God’s way of apologizing for our families.” ―Jay McInerney, novelist and screenwriter
6. “One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.”
   ―Jonathan Safran Foer, novelist
7. “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”
   ―George Bernard Shaw, playwright and critic
8. “Together, we can establish consensus-based modes of transgenerational cohabitation, and large-scale methods for distributing and minimizing the burdens of life’s work.” ―Sophie Lewis, writer
9. “Mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.” —Emily Dickinson, poet
10. “Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are.” —Cheryl Lacey Donovan, author
11. “My family is my strength and my weakness.” —Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, actress
12. “My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, ‘You’re tearing up the grass.’ ‘We’re not raising grass,’ Dad would reply. ‘We’re raising boys.’” —Harmon Killebrew, baseball player

Deep true friendship quotes

Deep true friendship quotes articulate the profound connections we share with others. They offer reflection on what makes a true friend and the impact friends can have on our lives. Send these friendship quotes with your closest pals to let them know you care.

1. “Friends…they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” —Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and essayist
2. “My best friend is the man who, in wishing me well, wishes it for my sake.” —Aristotle, philosopher and polymath
3. class=”pb-2″“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” ―Jane Austen, novelist
4. “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” ―Aristotle, philosopher and polymath
5. “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” ―Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist
6. “Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.” ―Elie Wiesel, writer and professor
7. “Can miles truly separate you from friends… If you want to be with someone you love, aren’t you already there?” ―Richard Bach, writer
8. “The best mirror is an old friend.” —George Herbert, poet and orator
9. “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” —Walt Whitman, poet and essayist
10. “Friends are the family you choose.” ―Jess C. Scott, author

Deep short quotes

Deep short quotes pack a profound punch into just a few words. In fact, many of these adages, proverbs, and iconic lines have withstood the test of time. While they may be short, they’re bound to make you think.

1. “Existence precedes essence.” —Jean-Paul Sartre, philosopher and playwright
2. “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” —Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher and writer
3. “The shortest answer is doing the thing .” —Ernest Hemingway, novelist and short story writer
4. “All who wander are not lost.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, philologist and author of The Lord of the Rings
5. “The dude abides.” —The Big Lebowski (1998)
6. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” —Robert Frost, poet
7. “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom” —Socrates, philosopher
8. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” —Anaïs Niin, diarist and essayist
9. “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” —Napoleon Hill, author
10. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times —Charles Dickens, writer and journalist
11. “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” —Victor Hugo, author and former French senator

Frequently asked questions about deep quotes

What are examples of heart-touching deep love quotes for him?

Examples of heart-touching deep love quotes for him include:

• “I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings
• “If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one.” —Michelle Hodkin, author of The Evolution of Mara Dyer
• “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” —Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher

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What are examples of deep short love quotes?

Examples of deep short love quotes include:

• “If a thing loves, it is infinite.” —William Blake, poet and painter
• “Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.”  —Zelda Fitzgerald, novelist and painter
• “You are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.” —E.E. Cummings, poet

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What are examples of deep, meaningful good morning life quotes?

Examples of deep, meaningful good morning life quotes include:

• “I hope you realize that every day is a fresh start for you. That every sunrise is a new chapter in your life waiting to be written.” ―Juansen Dizon, author
• “Do not say, ‘It is morning,’ and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.” —Rabindranath Tagore, polymath
• “First thing every morning before you arise, say out loud, ‘I believe,’ three times.” —Ovid, poet

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