50 Inspirational Quotes About Reflection to Ignite Your Inner Wisdom

"We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience."

- John Dewey

"Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous."

- Confucius

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

- Confucius

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action."

- Peter F. Drucker

"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way."

- Margaret Wheatley

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The greatest journey is the one of self-discovery."

- Lao Tzu

"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful."

- Margaret Wheatley

"It is within the boundaries of reflection we are able to become aware of insights that can lead us to understanding."

- Kat Lahr

"The only journey is the one within."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

"The journey into self-love and self-acceptance must begin with self-examination. … until you take the journey of self-reflection, it is almost impossible to grow or learn in life."

- Iyanla Vanzant

"The real [wo/]man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."

- Thomas Paine

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."

- Aristotle

"Reflective thinking turns experience into insight."

- John C. Maxwell

"The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."

- Thomas Paine

"The unexamined life is not worth living."

- Socrates

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens."

- Carl Jung

"Learning without reflection is a waste. Reflection without learning is dangerous."

- Confucius

"We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience."

- John Dewey

"Love is a mirror, it reflects only your essence if you have the courage to look in its face."

- Rumi

"Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it."

- Ernest Holmes

"Don’t become too preoccupied with what is happening around you. Pay more attention to what is going on within you."

- Mary-Frances Winters

"Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people."

- Albert Einstein

"Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and the trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed."

- Indra Devi

"Self-reflection is the gateway to freedom. It also brings greater appreciation and enjoyment. We begin to enjoy spending time with our own mind, and we enjoy reflecting on our experience of the teachings. Like the sun emerging from behind the clouds, the teachings of the dharma become clear."

- Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every person has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all people have some."

- Charles Dickens

"Your life is a reflection, you don 2t get what you want, you get what you are. You gotta be it to see it."

- Steve Maraboli

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

- Paulo Coelho

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

- Carl Jung

"Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes."

- Lawrence Bossidy

"Wisdom comes from reflection."

- Deborah Day

"Without deep reflection, one knows from daily life that one exists for other people."

- Albert Einstein

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

- Charles Dickens

"Growth is silent, reflection is its voice."

- Bayu Prihandito

"Self-reflection is a humbling process. It 2s essential to find out why you think, say, and do certain things 6 then better yourself."

- Sonya Teclai

"The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet. What you perceive in this world is largely a reflection of your own attitudes and beliefs. Life will give you what you attract with your thoughts. Think, act and talk negatively and your world will be negative. Think and act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive results."

- Michael LeBoeuf

"Your soul needs time for solitude and self-reflection. In order to love lead, heal and create you must nourish yourself first."

- Linda Joy

"You cannot have a meaningful life without having self-reflection."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Love is not what you say. Love is what you do."

- Flavian Mwasi

"In the sweet territory of silence we touch the mystery. It’s the place of reflection and contemplation, and it’s the place where we can connect with the deep knowing, to the deep wisdom way."

- Angeles Arrien

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."

- Mark Twain

"To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting."

- Edmund Burke

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

- Søren Kierkegaard

"The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him? No, thank you,' he will think. 'Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, although these are things which cannot inspire envy."

- Viktor Frankl

"Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead."

- Yvonne Woon

"I love the dark hours of my being. My mind deepens into them. There I can find, as in old letters, the days of my life, already lived, and held like a legend, and understood."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self."

- Aldous Huxley

"You cannot have a meaningful life without having spiritual self-reflection. Know who you are and why you are here. When you tap into that space, divine flow, that universal energy, you become untouchable in what you are called to do."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Ask, ‘Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?’"

- Carl Sandburg

"There is no greater journey than the one that you must take to discover all of the mysteries that lie within you."

- Michelle Sandlin

"It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly."

- Claude Monet

"If you’re looking for inner peace from the outside world, you’re not going to get that. The inner peace starts with looking at you from the inside. Understanding that everything that comes to you is what you are. Everything from friends to boyfriends to the job you get – it’s all a direct reflection of what you are on the inside."

- Mary J. Blige

"Self-reflection is the school of wisdom."

- Baltasar Gracian

"The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet. What you perceive in this world is largely a reflection of your own attitudes and beliefs. Life will give you what you attract with your thoughts think, act and talk negatively and your world will be negative. Think and act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive results."

- Michael LeBoeuf

"Everyone and everything that shows up in our life is a reflection of something that is happening inside of us."

- Alan Cohen

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

- Leo Tolstoy

"There is one art of which people should be masters – the art of reflection."

- Samuel Coleridge

"It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment."

- Marcus Tullius Cicero

"What you think about most is reflected in what you become."

- steven redhead

"There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge … observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination."

- Denis Diderot

"The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face."

- William Makepeace Thackeray

"What counts, in the long run, is not what you read; it is what you sift through your own mind; it is the ideas and impressions that are aroused in you by your reading. It is the ideas stirred in your own mind, the ideas which are a reflection of your own thinking, which make you an interesting person"

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I get clarity through quiet time, reflection, reading, and meditation. Finding the space between thoughts gives me the energy to take on new challenges with enthusiasm."

- Jaime Murray

"What you see in other people is a reflection of yourself. A person of goodness sees goodness in others and a person of evil sees evil in others."

- Omar Suleiman

"In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion."

- Albert Camus

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

- William Shakespeare

"A little reflection will show us that every belief, even the simplest and most fundamental, goes beyond experience when regarded as a guide to our actions."

- William Kingdon Clifford

"The object of reflection is invariably the discovery of something satisfying to the mind which was not there at the beginning of the search."

- Ernest Dimnet

"Contemplation is vital, thinking is vital; he who thinks little errs much."

- Leonardo da Vinci

"Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

- Charles Dickens

"Self-reflection is a much kinder teacher than regret is. Prioritize yourself by making a habit of it."

- Andrena Sawyer

"The journey into self-love and self-acceptance must begin with self-examination… until you take the journey of self-reflection, it is almost impossible to grow or learn in life."

- Iyanla Vanzant

"Self-reflection is a humbling process. It’s essential to find out why you think, say, and do certain things…. then better yourself."

- Sonya Teclai

"It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better."

- Ella Maillart

"Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself."

- Dr. Paul TP Wong

"Honest self reflection opens your mind to reprogramming, change, success and freedom."

- Vikas Runwal

"Your life is a reflection of your thoughts. If you change your thinking, you change your life."

- Brian Tracy

"Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself."

- William Faulkner

"Wisdom comes from reflection"

- Deborah Day

"Self-reflection entails asking yourself questions about your values, assessing your strengths and failures, thinking about your perceptions and interactions with others, and imagining where you want to take your life in the future."

- Robert L. Rosen

"Dwell not on the faults and shortcomings of others; instead, seek clarity about your own."

- Buddha

"Look outside and you will see yourself. Look inside and you will find yourself."

- Drew Gerald

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self."

- Ernest Hemingway

"Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know myself, to know it completely."

- Kahlil Gibran

"Let go of who you think you 2re supposed to be and embrace who you are."

- Brené Brown

"The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of the state of your mind."

- Wayne Dyer

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

- Carl Jung

"No matter where you are in life right now, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are 6 it is never late to be who you are meant to be."

- Esther and Jerry Hicks

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

- Albert Einstein

"Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting, and joyful."

- Oprah Winfrey

"No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"All hatred of others is a reflection of self-hatred. All love of others is a reflection of self-love."

- Alan Cohen

"People of the world don't look at themselves, and so they blame one another."

- Rumi

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

- William James

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

- Thomas Jefferson

"Self-reflection is a kind of self-judgment. The difference is just this 6 the former is positive and the latter is negative."

- Balroop Singh

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection."

- Leonardo da Vinci

"People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot."

- Bryant McGill

"I think technology is a wonderful thing that has to be used thoughtfully … What I am very disturbed about is this trend of everything happening faster and faster and there being more and more general noise in the world, and less and less time for quiet reflection on who we are, and where we’re going."

- Alan Lightman

"You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose."

- Indira Gandhi

"Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is."

- Jackson Pollock

"God knows us from within ourselves, not as objects, not as strangers, not as intimates, but as our own selves."

- Thomas Merton

"Let go of rejections and focus on self-reflection. For it is within that you will find the light you seek."

- Amy Leigh Mercree

"Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a divine mystery, or a waterfall."

- Fulton J. Sheen

"Reflection must be reserved for solitary hours."

- Jane Austen

"Time and reflection change the sight little by little 'till we come to understand."

- Paul Cezanne

"It's on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly."

- Claude Monet

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Reflection is the business of man; a sense of his state is his first duty: but who remembers himself in joy? Is it not in mercy then that sorrow is allotted unto us?"

- William Shakespeare

"Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."

- Greek Proverb

"What we perceive about ourselves is greatly a reflection of how we will end up living our lives."

- Stephen Richards

"Reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God’s love, as we strive daily to become better people."

- Queen Elizabeth II

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect."

- Mark Twain

"It is not as much about who you used to, as it is about who you choose to be."

- Sanhita Baruah

"During self-reflection, the realization came that revolution begins within."

- Amanda Mosher

"Take time daily to reflect on how much you have. It may not be all that you want but remember someone somewhere is dreaming to have what you have."

- Germany Kent

"Reflecting on where I came from helps me to appreciate and balance what I have now."

- Meghan Markle

"Self-reflection is an important stage to diagnose, develop and strengthen your creativity."

- Pearl Zhu

"Engaging in meditative self-reflection and gaining increased control of inner experiences provides a person with a sense of control over fear and trembling and the chaos of life."

- Kilroy J. Oldster

"You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company."

- Diane von Furstenberg

"To achieve happiness I advocate four major principles, the principles of love, wisdom, self-reflection, and progress."

- Ryuho Okawa

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

- Marcus Aurelius

"We are shaped and fashioned by those we love."

- Geothe

"Art is not a reflection of reality, it is the reality of a reflection."

- Jean-Luc Godard

"Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace and abolishing strife."

- Kahlil Gibran

"Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out a wholesome fragrance."

- Desiderius Erasmus

"We have so committed ourselves in different ways that we have hardly any time for self-reflection, to observe, to study."

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

"We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be."

- May Sarton

"Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see and be."

- Trudy Symeonakis Vesotsky

"The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none."

- Thomas Carlyle

"The soul usually knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind."

- Caroline Myss

"In love, one and one are one."

- Jean-Paul Sartre

"To find yourself, think for yourself."

- Socrates

"If you are not evolving, you are dying."

- Marcus Lemonis

"Speak criticism into the mirror before you share with anyone else."

- Maureen Joyce Connolly

"Great leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, self-reflection, education, training, and experience."

- Tony Buon

"It’s about always trying to make decisions that reflect my leadership and who I am."

- Andrew Whitworth

"If I speak of myself in different ways, that is because I look at myself in different ways."

- Michel de Montaigne

"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light, I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

- Sarah Williams

"One person can make a difference, and everyone should try."

- John F. Kennedy

"I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values."

- Sidney Poitier

"It's all about the journey, not the outcome."

- Carl Lewis

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

- Thomas Merton

"The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none."

- Thomas Carlyle

"I’m a work in progress, and I hope I will never be complete."

- Nick Frost

"The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart, the secret anniversaries of the heart..."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"One of the saddest things in life, is the things one remembers."

- Agatha Christie

"Certain thoughts are prayers."

- Victor Hugo

"Wait and be patient, and later you will be glad you did."

- Sirach

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

"Every action we take impacts the lives of others around us. The question is: Are you aware of your impact?"

"Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success."

"The journey into self-love and self-acceptance begins with self-examination. Once we recognize ourselves, it's easier to accept and love ourselves."

"Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted 6 it is an intimate date with yourself."

"Only in still water do we see the depth of our reflection."

"Take time to reflect on the moments of triumph and trials; both are the teachers of life's curriculum."

"Love is the reflection of the soul's light."

"Love's greatest gift is its ability to make everything it touches sacred."

"The way we reflect on love mirrors how we experience it."

"Reflection is the echo of experience, and experience is the architect of the soul."

"Reflection is the art of pondering on one's virtues and faults. It 2s the philosopher 2s stone to personal enrichment."

"Pause and reflect; in silence, the truths are whispered."

"The heart will not be rushed; love reveals itself in thoughtful reflection."

"Music and art are the guiding lights of the world."

"Reflection in art is to see beyond the surface, to hear beyond sound."

"Art is the reflection of the creator's soul, as unique and profound as the self."

"Reflection is the lamp of the heart. If it departs, the heart will have no light."

"Compare less. Reflect more."