50 Best Alan Watts Quotes On Life and Success

Best 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

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

2- “By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us.” ~ Alan Watts

By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us

3- “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

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

4- “No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen.” ~ Alan Watts

5- “We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between a causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality.” ~ Alan Watts

We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between a causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality

6- “Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be” ~ Alan Watts

7- “Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.” ~ Alan Watts

8- “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

9- “People sometimes fail to live because they are always preparing to live.” ~ Alan Watts

10- “The future is a concept, it doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be, because time is always now. That’s one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now.” ~ Alan Watts

The future is a concept, it doesn't exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be, because time is always now. That's one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now

11- “Life is not a problem to be solved, but an experience to be had.” ~ Alan Watts

12- “We must abandon completely the notion of blaming the past for any kind of situation we’re in and reverse our thinking and see that the past always flows back from the present. That now is the creative point of life. So you see it’s like the idea of forgiving somebody, you change the meaning of the past by doing that…Also, watch the flow of music. The melody as its expressed is changed by notes that come later. Just as the meaning of a sentence…you wait till later to find out what the sentence means…The present is always changing the past.” ~ Alan Watts

We must abandon completely the notion of blaming the past for any kind of situation we're in and reverse our thinking and see that the past always flows back from the present. That now is the creative point of life. So you see it's like the idea of forgiving somebody, you change the meaning of the past by doing that…Also, watch the flow of music. The melody as its expressed is changed by notes that come later. Just as the meaning of a sentence…you wait till later to find out what the sentence means…The present is always changing the past

13- “You are the universe experiencing itself.” ~ Alan Watts

14- “You, yourself, are the eternal energy which appears as this Universe. You didn’t come into this world; you came out of it. Like a wave from the ocean.” ~ Alan Watts

15- “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

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

16- “Increasingly, the world around us looks as if we hated it.” ~ Alan Watts

17- “All that you see out in front of you is how you feel inside your head.” ~ Alan Watts

18- “Insecurity is the result of trying to be secure.” ~ Alan Watts

19- “Enlightenment or awakening is not the creation of a new state of affairs but the recognition of what already is.” ~ Alan Watts

20- “For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the future is a hoax. There is no point whatever in making plans for a future which you will never be able to enjoy. When your plans mature, you will still be living for some other future beyond. You will never, never be able to sit back with full contentment and say, “Now, I’ve arrived!” Your entire education has deprived you of this capacity because it was preparing you for the future, instead of showing you how to be alive now.” ~ Alan Watts

For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the future is a hoax. There is no point whatever in making plans for a future which you will never be able to enjoy. When your plans mature, you will still be living for some other future beyond. You will never, never be able to sit back with full contentment and say, "Now, I've arrived!" Your entire education has deprived you of this capacity because it was preparing you for the future, instead of showing you how to be alive now

21- “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

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

22- “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~ Alan Watts

23- “Don’t hurry anything. Don’t worry about the future. Don’t worry about what progress you’re making. Just be entirely content to be aware of what is.” ~ Alan Watts

24- “The destination of life is this eternal moment.” ~ Alan Watts

25- “Everything in the world is gloriously meaningless.” ~ Alan Watts

26- “You can make any human activity into meditation simply by being completely with it and doing it just to do it.” ~ Alan Watts

27- “When you get free from certain fixed concepts of the way the world is, you find it is far more subtle, and far more miraculous, than you thought it was.” ~ Alan Watts

When you get free from certain fixed concepts of the way the world is, you find it is far more subtle, and far more miraculous, than you thought it was

28- “What keeps us from happiness is our inability to fully inhabit the present” ~ Alan Watts

29- “Hurrying and delaying are alike ways of trying to resist the present.” ~ Alan Watts

30- “What I am really saying is that you don’t need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all.” ~ Alan Watts

What I am really saying is that you don’t need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all

31- “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

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

32- “You must not be afraid of playing wrong notes. Just forget it, play it wrong! But play!” ~ Alan Watts

33- “Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.” ~ Alan Watts

34- “The world is a marvelous system of wiggles.” ~ Alan Watts

35- “We see what we believe rather than what we see.” ~ Alan Watts

36- “A paradox is only a truth standing on its head to attract attention.” ~ Alan Watts

37- “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

38- “Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.” ~ Alan Watts

39- “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

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

40- “Nothing is more creative than death, since it has the whole secret of life. It means that the past must be abandoned, that the unknown cannot be avoided, that ‘I’ cannot continue, and that nothing can be ultimately fixed. When a man knows this, he lives for the first time in his life. By holding his breath, he loses it. By letting go he finds it.” ~ Alan Watts

Nothing is more creative than death, since it has the whole secret of life. It means that the past must be abandoned, that the unknown cannot be avoided, that 'I' cannot continue, and that nothing can be ultimately fixed. When a man knows this, he lives for the first time in his life. By holding his breath, he loses it. By letting go he finds it

41- “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

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

42- “Your soul isn’t in your body; your body is in your soul!” ~ Alan Watts

43- “There is a deep, peaceful calm in the dawning of a new day.” ~ Alan Watts

44- “Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone.” ~ Alan Watts

45- “Of course, you can’t force your mind to be silent. That would be like trying to smooth ripples in water with a flatiron. Water becomes clear and calm only when left alone.” ~ Alan Watts

Of course, you can’t force your mind to be silent. That would be like trying to smooth ripples in water with a flatiron. Water becomes clear and calm only when left alone

46- “If we are unduly absorbed in improving our lives we may forget altogether to live them.” ~ Alan Watts

47- “If you are ready to wake up, you are going to wake up. If you’re not you are going to stay pretending that you are just a poor little me.” ~ Alan Watts

48- “What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life?” ~ Alan Watts

49- “Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.” ~ Alan Watts

50- “Many people never grow up. They stay all their lives with a passionate need for external authority and guidance, pretending not to trust their own judgment.” ~ Alan Watts