30 Incredible Quotes to Keep you Afloat

Quotes are intriguing to me in so many ways, especially what I’ll call “stay afloat quotes.”

After each novel I read I end up with several quotes that seem to cling to my imagination, be they non-fiction or fiction. I suppose I’ve always had a fascination with quotes because they are something tangible in a world that is constantly changing.

Once a quote has been uttered and recorded it cannot be changed, and there is something wonderful about that. And there is also something a tad dangerous for the utterer of the quote. It’s an indication that you shouldn’t mince your words when writing, and you should carefully consider your wording when speaking.

Quotes can be often be classified as cliché. They are only cliché from overuse, and not from a lack of originality, so perhaps they often hold an innate truth. That is to say that at one time or another they were indeed original. At least I would suggest that for the quotes that I’ll be sharing in a moment.

Quotations, for me, are beautifully paradoxical. On the one hand, they belong distinctly and definitely to a moment of time. They belong to a particular moment where certain circumstances led to their famous utterance. On the other hand, quotations are timeless and have a way of superseding the particular circumstances to hold a sort of universal truth.

A quote, especially a “stay afloat quote,” can have its meaning stretch across the planet, but can also mean something different to each person who stumbles upon it.

I believe in the power of words to enable us to stay afloat and keep striving, thus I wanted to share some “stay afloat quotes.” A good quote can have an incredible impact on your life if you’ll let. Simply put, a “stay afloat quote,” has a real chance to make a difference in your life, and that’s why I want to share some.

I’m not going to get intensely philosophical, but it’s just about taking chances, and believing that it’s all worth it despite the intended outcome. Alas, my small introduction has snowballed into an unintentional rant, but here is a collection of 30 quotes that I take solace in, laugh with, and derive inspiration from. I love the fact that they are all so concrete; yet have so much room for interpretation.

#1-10 “Stay Afloat Quotes”

1. “The Important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are; for what we could become.” ~ Charles Dubois

2. “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. “What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.” ~ Buddha

4. “Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.” ~ Richard Bach

5. “At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.” ~ Christopher Reeve

6. “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” ~ Oscar Wilde

7. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” ~ B. Olatunji

8. “History shows us that the people who end up changing the world – the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, even sports revolutionaries – are always nuts, until they are right, and then they are geniuses.” ~ John Eliot

9. “20 years from now you will be disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the one’s you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

10. “All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien

If you’re enjoying this post, you’ll also love my article, “The 50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes.”

#11-20 “Stay Afloat Quotes”

11. “Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.” ~ Andre Gide

12. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” ~ Winston Churchill

13. “No one knows what’s next, but everybody does It.” – George Carlin

14. “Only those that risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” ~T.S. Eliot

15. “Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” ~ John Wooden

16. “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” ~ Plato

“17. A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” ~ Oscar Wilde

18. “Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.” ~ Charles Schulz

19. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ~ Steve Jobs

20. “All generalizations are bad.” ~ R.H. Grenier

If you like this article, you will also love “Ancient Travel Quotes Worth Remembering”

#21-30 “Stay Afloat Quotes”

21. “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” ~ Douglas Adams

22. “As I may or may not say to the Lord on Judgment Day, ‘You ask a lot of questions for someone who has so much explaining to do’.” ~ Robert Brault

23. “Tourists don't know where they've been. Travelers don't know where they're going.” ~ Paul Theroux

24. “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” – Groucho Marx

25. “Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.” ~ Confucius

26. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ~ William Arthur Ward

27. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

28. “It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” ~ Oscar Wilde

29. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” ~ William Arthur Ward

30. “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” ~ Albert Einstein

Thanks so much for reading this post. What did you think? Are there any other quotes that you’d add to this? I’d love to hear your opinion!