More quotations and passages on living in the present moment

Our latest moment is always
our supreme moment.

Samuel Butler

People who are “being” are fully present. They are totally engaged in the moment.
This engagement includes an easy appreciation and sense of connection with
whomever or whatever they are relating to at the time. These people are aware
of a job well done or a difficulty surmounted and will respect and often acknowledge
the person who has accomplished it. “Being” is a state of heart and mind
that is receptive and able to listen carefully.

Sallirae Henderson

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither,
but just to enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate.

Thornton Wilder

Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present. They are blessed over all mortals who lose no moment of the passing life in remembering the past.

Henry David Thoreau

Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

Thomas Carlyle

To live with God is to live always in the present,
with him who is the eternal Now.

John A.T. Robinson

I realized that living in the present is not an idea. It’s reality.
It’s like taking one step at a time. Sounds good. Good philosophy,
right? Then it occurred to me, Have you ever taken two steps at a time?
We can’t. It’s as simple as that: we can’t. It’s the same with
living in the present. Our thoughts may wander to the past or the future.
Yet, our thoughts are just thoughts. Our bodies are in the present.
We are in the present. That’s just the way it is.

Anne Wilson Schaef

The present moment is always full of infinite treasure. It contains far more than you can possibly grasp. Faith is the measure of its riches: what you find in the present moment is according to the measure of your faith.
Love also is the measure: the more the heart loves, the more it rejoices in what God provides. The will of God presents itself at each moment like an immense ocean that the desire of your heart cannot empty; yet you will drink from that ocean according to your faith and love.

Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Step into this moment, because it is the only one you have right now. It is not
wasted or thrown away. The divine opportunity could be stolen unless you tell
yourself it is here right now; available to you this moment, to make of it anything
you choose. Why not choose this moment, right now, to be available to
yourself by declaring, I AM GOOD! . . . . The richness of the present is here.
The fullness of now is present. If you are not here now, it means you could be
missing the love, joy, peace and brand-new ideas that are here right now.

Iyanla Vanzant

If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.

Maria Edgeworth

If we know that we are now at the point where we have always
wanted to be, we will be there. . . because we are never
there but always here, now!

Paul Twitchell

The present is passed over in the race for the future;
the here is neglected in favor of the there.
Enjoy the moment, even if it means
merely a walk in the country.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future,
but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present
moment is a major component of mental wellness.

Abraham Maslow

Live in the present. Do the things that need to be done.
Do all the good you can each day. The future will unfold.

Peace Pilgrim

We are within a mystery, a dream of the moment, and the
epitome of life is to live ever present within it. Our past
illusions and fantasies are not relative to the present moment.
Here and now is where all the mystery lies hidden.

unattributed

Don't think about the future. Just be here now. Don't think about the past. Just be here now.

Ram Dass

Every moment is a golden one to those who have the visions to recognize it as such.

Henry Miller

Hold every moment sacred. Give each clarity and meaning, each the weight of your awareness, each its true and due fulfillment.

Thomas Mann

Not living in the present is a form of denial. It's easier to live in the past or future because then you don't have to be responsible for the present.

Jane Hendrix

Those who think to reach God by running away from the world,
when and where do they expect to meet him? We are reaching
him here in this very spot, now at this very moment.

Rabindranath Tagore

We hurry through the so-called boring things in order to attend
to that which we deem more important, interesting. Perhaps the final
freedom will be a recognition that every thing in every moment
is 'essential' and that nothing at all is 'important.'

Helen M. Luke

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Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe,
a moment that never was before and never will be again.

Pau Casals

I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly God was speaking. "My name is 'I Am.'" I waited. God continued.

"When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not 'I was.'

"When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not 'I will be.'

"When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here. My name is 'I Am.'"

Helen Mellicost

Be here in the moment, as an artist is here with focused attention,
whether you are cooking, cleaning, praying, playing, or reading. Be here
in the moment, as an athlete is here in that sweet spot of time when
everything is effortless, fluid, and free. The banquet is spread before us,
and it is the wish of the Divine Host that we partake of the present moment
without regrets for the past or fears of the future. Pledge yourself to the moment
and let it teach you. Surrender yourself to the moment and let it preach you.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

I've stopped thinking all the time of
what happened yesterday. And
stopped asking myself what's going
to happen tomorrow. What's happening
today, this minute, that's what I care
about. I say: What are you doing
at this moment, Zorba? . . . I'm kissing
a woman. Well, kiss her well, Zorba!
And forget all the rest while
you're doing it; there's nothing else
on earth, only you and her!

Nikos Kazantzakis

How wonderful are islands! Islands in space, like this one I have come to,
ringed about by miles of water, linked by no bridges, no cables,
no telephones. An island from the world and the world's life. Islands in time,
like this short vacation of mine. The past and the future are cut off; only the
present remains. Existence in the present gives island living an extreme vividness
and purity. One lives like a child or a saint in the immediacy of here and now.
Every day, every act, is an island, washed by time and space, and has
an island's completion. People, too, become like islands in such an atmosphere,
self-contained, whole and serene; respecting other people's solitude, not intruding
on their shores, standing back in reverence before the miracle of another individual.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.

My sister Barbara tried to teach me this lesson more than twenty years ago. At the time, she was planning her wedding under what I can only describe as bittersweet circumstances. On the one hand, my sister was about to realize a life-long dream: at age thirty-eight, she was about to marry the man she had been in love with since they were teenagers. On the other, she had just been diagnosed with colon cancer. . . .

"What good would it do to be angry, Patsy?" she said gently. "I can't change the past and I can't control the future. I can, however, make the most of the present. Shot and I are together now. At this moment. And, if you think about it, this moment is all any of us really has."

The ability to live fully in the moment--in the time and place we are right now--is one of the greatest secrets I know of living joyfully. Because once you grasp it, freedom is very close. You stop worrying about the past and stressing out about the future. Enjoying life--not agonizing about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow--becomes your priority. Your days become a gift, not a grind.

Patti LaBelle

For if we open our eyes and see clearly, it becomes obvious that there is no
other time than this instant, and that the past and the future are abstractions
without any concrete reality. Until this has become clear, it seems that our
life is all past and future, and that the present is nothing more than the
infinitesimal hairline which divides them. From this comes the sensation of
"having no time," of a world which hurries by so rapidly that it is gone before
we can enjoy it. But through "awakening to the instant," one sees that this
is the reverse of the truth: it is rather the past and the future which are
the fleeting illusions, and the present which is eternally real.

Alan Watts

The Buddha turned to the community and said, "Bhikkus, I will explain
what true self-sufficiency is and what is the better way to live alone.
Self-sufficient person are people who dwell in mindfulness. They are
aware of what is going on in the present moment, what is going on in
their bodies, feelings, minds and objects of the mind. They know how
to look deeply at things in the present moment. They do not pursue
the past nor lose themselves in the future, because the past no longer
is and the future has not yet come. Life can only take place in the
present moment. If we lose the present moment, we lose life.
This is the better way to live alone.

Thich Nhat Hanh

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