Looking for inspiring quotes from Alan Watts?
Dive into this collection of insightful quotes that explore the nature of life, the present moment, self-identity, and more.
These quotes will inspire you to reflect deeply on your own life and the universe around you.
30 Alan Watts Quotes on Life, the Present Moment, and Self-Identity
On the Nature of Life and Reality
“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
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but an experience to be had.” – Alan Watts
“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
On the Present Moment
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts
“Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live.” – Alan Watts
“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
On Self and Identity
“Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.” – Alan Watts
“You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” – Alan Watts
“If you’re perfectly honest about loving yourself (and you don’t pull any punches, you don’t pretend that you’re anything other than exactly what you are), you suddenly come to discover that the self you love—if you really go into it—is the universe.” – Alan Watts
On Society and Culture
“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.” – Alan Watts
“We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.” – Alan Watts
“If you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you’ll spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things you don’t like doing, which is stupid.” – Alan Watts
On Anxiety and Fear
“To remain stable is to refrain from trying to separate yourself from a pain because you know that you cannot. Running away from fear is fear, fighting pain is pain, trying to be brave is being scared.” – Alan Watts
“One is a great deal less anxious if one feels perfectly free to be anxious, and the same may be said of guilt.” – Alan Watts
On Spirituality and the Universe
“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.” – Alan Watts
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.” – Alan Watts“
We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean ‘waves,’ the universe ‘peoples.’ Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.” – Alan Watts
On Action and Movement
“The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.” – Alan Watts
“To go out of your mind at least once a day is tremendously important. By going out of your mind, you come to your senses.” – Alan Watts
“If we are honest with ourselves, the most fascinating problem in the world is, ‘Who am I?’ What do you mean, what do you feel, when you say the word ‘I’?” – Alan Watts
On Illusions and Reality
“A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts, so he loses touch with reality and lives in a world of illusion.” – Alan Watts
“The menu is not the meal.” – Alan Watts
“Don’t confuse your finger with the moon” (paraphrased as “The word or symbol is not the same thing as the thing in itself”). – Alan Watts
On Purpose and Meaning
“What we have to discover is that there is no safety, that seeking is painful, and that when we imagine that we have found it, we don’t like it.” – Alan Watts
“You didn’t come into the universe, you came out of it.” – Alan Watts
“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.” – Alan Watts
On Acceptance and Non-Resistance
“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” – Alan Watts
“As muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone, it could be argued that those who sit quietly and do nothing are making one of the best possible contributions to a world in turmoil.” – Alan Watts
On Death and Perspective
“Imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up… now try to imagine what it was like to wake up having never gone to sleep.” – Alan Watts
Reflections on the Top 5 Alan Watts Quotes
1. “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
This quote highlights the simplicity and inherent value of life itself, urging us to realize that just being alive is enough.
2. “Life is not a problem to be solved, but an experience to be had.” – Alan Watts
Watts encourages us to embrace life as a series of experiences rather than a succession of problems to overcome.
3. “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts
This quote emphasizes the importance of accepting and flowing with change, rather than resisting it.
4. “The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.” – Alan Watts
Watts speaks to the balance required in life, advocating for mindfulness and openness to the present moment.
5. “Don’t confuse your finger with the moon” – Alan Watts
A reminder that symbols and words are not the things they represent, urging us to seek direct experience rather than getting lost in abstractions.
Related Figures
- Carl Jung
- Joseph Campbell
- Eckhart Tolle
- Ram Dass
- Jiddu Krishnamurti
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Rumi
- Lao Tzu
- Hermann Hesse
- Deepak Chopra
Conclusion
Alan Watts’ quotes offer profound insights that invite us to reflect deeply on our lives, our identities, and our place in the universe. Take a moment to ponder these words and consider how they might apply to your own journey.
