40 philosophers quotes about life to reflect on the importance of life

No harm can befall a good man, either in life or after death.

Plato

And I, who am happy with life, believe that those who understand happiness the most are butterflies and soap bubbles and everything that among men is similar to them.

Friedrich Nietzsche

As for the life devoted to gain, it is a forced life, and wealth is evidently not the good we seek; it is something useful, nothing more, and coveted in the interest of something else.

Aristotle

The happy life consists of tranquility of mind.

cicero

Life must be understood backwards. But it must be lived forward.

Soren Kierkegaard

Our life is a dream, we’re sleeping, but every now and then we wake up enough to know we’re dreaming.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Choose a profession you love and you won’t have to work a single day in your life.

Confucius

Friends are like companions, they must help each other to persevere on the path to a happier life.

Pythagoras

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Beware of the sterility of busy life.

Socrates

The hardest thing in life is knowing yourself.

Tales of Miletus

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

Marco Aurelio

Life consists of the constant repetition of pleasure.

Schopenhauer

All men seek happiness. And there is no exception. Regardless of the various means they employ, the end is the same. What drives one man to launch himself into war and others to avoid it is the same desire, albeit clad in different visions. Desire only takes the last step towards this end. This is what motivates the actions of all men, even those who take their own lives.

Blaise Pascal

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates

Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.

Soren Kierkegaard

Apply now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Although the land is good, you cannot have a bountiful harvest without cultivation.

Plato

Life is very simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

Confucius

Many men have started a new era in their lives by reading a book.

Henry David Thoreau

He who educates children is more honored than those who produce them, for the latter gave them life and those who educate gave the art of living well.

Aristotle

Why worry about death? Life has so many problems that we have to solve first.

Confucius

Life gets harder and harder near the top.

Friedrich Nietzsche

We must learn throughout life, not imagining that wisdom comes with old age.

Plato

Always have a “B” plan for all your projects. Seek the best and prepare for the worst, because life is only for winners.

Tales of Miletus

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

Marco Aurelio

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

Plato

Know yourself and you will know the universe and the gods.

Socrates

Do you worry if the tree of your life has rotten branches? Don’t waste time; take good care of the root and you won’t have to walk through the branches.

Saint Augustine

Man reaches his maturity when he takes life with the same seriousness as a child takes a game.

Friedrich Nietzsche

I went into the woods because I intended to live deliberately, to face only the essential facts of life and see if I could learn what it had to teach me, rather than discover at the moment of death that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

The meaning of life is the most pressing of questions.

Albert Camus

The ideal man bears life’s accidents with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.

Aristotle

It’s easier to deal with a bad conscience than a bad reputation.

Friedrich Nietzsche

An unquestioned life is not worth living.

Plato

A life without challenges is not worth living.

Socrates

In the midst of this agitated sea of civilized life, there are so many clouds, storms, quicksands and a thousand and one items to consider, that the human being has to orient himself – if he doesn’t sink and definitely end up not doing his part – by a simple technique of prediction, in addition to being a great calculator to succeed. Simplify, simplify.

Henry David Thoreau

Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the aim and end of human existence.

Aristotle

Keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation, friend of justice, god-fearing, gentle, passionate, vigorous in all your attitudes. Fight to live as philosophy would like you to live. Honor the gods and help men. Life is short.

Marco Aurelio

We love life not because we are used to life, but to love. There is always some madness in love, but there is always also some reason in madness.

Friedrich Nietzsche