110 reflection phrases to think and philosophize

There are many elements and aspects of our life that involve doubts and conflicts.. It is common for us to ask ourselves how, when, why and for what, reflecting on many facets of our lives and what happens around us. Where we are? Why do we live? Where we go? What happens after death? Who I am? How should we live? Why is there love or hate? What do I feel and why?

Throughout history, a large number of reflections have arisen regarding these and other issues, whether they are more everyday or more transcendental. In this article We collect a series of reflection phrases that can serve as inspiration and allow you to see how other people have viewed the world.

• Related article: "123 wise phrases to reflect on life"

The best reflection phrases to think about

Below we present a small collection of reflection phrases that have been made by people from all over type and condition throughout history, many of which have been pronounced by well-known personalities worldwide.

1. Being deeply loved gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao Tzu reflects the great power that love has in our lives.

• Related article: "The theory of Yin and Yang"

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

Phrase attributed to Marco Aurelio, reflects that it is what we think and how we react to the world that allows us to become happy or not.

3. The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge

Phrase by Stephen Hawking that reflects that it is worse to mistakenly believe that you know something than to directly ignore it.

4. Sometimes we feel that what we do is just a drop in the sea, but the sea would be much less if it were missing a drop

Maria Teresa of Calcutta she uttered this phrase to make us reflect on the fact that we are all important.

5. The desire only works as long as it is directed towards the action that satisfies it.

Phrase by Jorge Bucay that indicates that wishing and dreaming is only useful if we dare to carry out actions that allow us to get closer to them.

6. It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then victory will be yours

Buddha's reflection that expresses the need to be able to overcome our own limitations and fears and dare to be as we are.

7. Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself

Phrase by George Bernard Shaw that underlines the fact that we are not made in a pre-established way but that we forge ourselves throughout life.

8. The sage does not say everything he thinks, but he always thinks everything he says

Aristotle proposes to reflect before speaking, so that we are aware of what we say and its consequences.

9. If you know why you fall in love, you are not in love

Pavarotti phrase, which expresses that love is felt and not thought.

10. With morality we correct the errors of our instincts, and with love the errors of our morality.

José Ortega y Gasset expresses that ultimately we are guided by what love, our feelings and emotionsthey dictate to us.

11. There is nothing good or bad, it is human thought that makes it appear that way

Shakespeare expresses that our assessments of things are completely subjective, not being universal truths.

12. Thinking is easy, acting is hard, and putting one's thoughts into action is the hardest thing in the world.

Goethe expresses the great difficulty and value of being exposed to putting into practice what we think and living according to what we believe.

13. It is easy to see the faults of others, but how difficult it is to see our own. We display the faults of others as the wind scatters the straw, while we hide our own as the cheating player hides his dice.

Buddha's phrase that expresses that we usually criticize other people's faults when we ourselves commit many others and do not see them.

14. In life, man is elastic and evolves, At the time of death he is rigid and immutable. Plants in the sun are flexible and fibrous but perish dry and cracked. For this reason, the elastic and flexible are associated with life and the rigid and immutable give the hand to death.

Lao Tzu expresses the need to be flexible and be able to adapt to changes, letting go of rigidity and accepting new possibilities.

15. I have noticed that even people who say that everything is predestined and that we cannot do anything to change our destiny still look before crossing the street.

Reflection on the non-existence of destiny as something written and invariable by Stephen Hawking.

• Related article: "75 Incredible Phrases From Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking"

16. Without reflection we blindly go our way, creating more unintended consequences and accomplishing nothing useful.

Margaret Wheatley exposes us the need to reflect so that our actions serve something positive.

17. In the end it is not the years in our lives that count, but the life in our years

Abraham Lincoln expresses that what matters is what we do with our lives to make it lively and satisfying, more than the time we have for it.

18. It always seems impossible until it's done

Nelson Mandela expresses that we have to risk trying to achieve our objectives even if no one has achieved it before. Only what we do not try is impossible.

19. In life, sometimes you win, other times you learn.

Phrase by John Maxwell that reflects that not being successful in our companies does not imply losing or failing, but rather offers an opportunity to improve.

20. To live is to be born every moment

Phrase by Erich Fromm that indicates that we are constantly learning and adjusting our way of seeing the world.

21. Our complexes are the source of our weakness, but often they are also the source of our strength.

Sigmund Freud pushes us to face our complexes and see them as a source of learning and strengthening.

22. There are three phrases that prevent us from moving forward: I have to do it well, you have to treat me well and the world must be easy

Albert Ellis reflects on the dysfunctional beliefs we hold and that hinder our life and adaptation to the world.

23. The pursuit of excellence is motivating, the pursuit of perfection is demoralizing

Phrase by Harriet Braiker that reflects that trying to achieve perfection ends up exhausting the person who does it, by never being able to reach their goal.

24. Don't waste your time, because that's what life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin encourages us not to waste time and do what is important to us, given that we have limited time.

25. Our reward is in the effort and not in the result: a total effort is a complete victory

Gandhi explained with this phrase that what matters is not the goal but the path we use to reach it.

26. What we know is a drop of water, what we ignore is the ocean

Sir Isaac Newton says that we really know very little about the world, and even that knowledge can be totally wrong.

27. If you send reinforcements everywhere, you will be weak everywhere

This phrase is part of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". It expresses the need to concentrate on something instead of devoting minimal effort to different aspects or domains.

28. Be like the bird that, stopping its flight for a while on branches that are too weak, feels how they give way under its weight and yet sings, knowing that it has wings.

Victor Hugo says that we must be aware of our strength and our great potential, which will lead us to achieve our goals even though we currently do not have enough means to do so.

29. If you cry for having lost the sun, the tears will not let you see the stars

Rabindranath Tagore indicates that we should not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by situations, but that we must try to be aware that there are multiple possibilities and opportunities beyond the loss.

30. If you don't live dangerously, you don't live. Life only blooms in danger. Life never blooms in safety.

Osho proposes that not taking risks can allow you to be safe, but not enjoy the great opportunities that life can offer us.

31. We're just a race of advanced monkeys on a planet smaller than your average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us very special

Hawkings tells us that although we are only a small part of the universe, but a part capable of great things.

32. Luck is what happens when preparation and opportunity meet and merge

Voltaire indicates with this phrase that luck is given not only by chance but by being prepared to take advantage of the opportunity.

33. Do you want to be rich? Well, do not strive to increase your possessions but to decrease your greed

Phrase from Epicurus that urges us to curb our ambition in order to enjoy what we have

34. To love is not only to want, it is above all to understand

Phrase by François Sagan that reflects the need to understand something or someone in order to truly love it.

• Related article: "The 4 types of love: what different kinds of love are there?"

35. The most common lie is the one with which a man deceives himself. Deceiving others is a relatively vain defect

Nietzsche indicates that man often deceives himself to facilitate his existence.

36. Stop thinking and end your problems

Lao Tzu indicates that we must stop thinking about everything, because excessive reflection and worry is usually the origin of many of our current problems.

37. Happiness is achieved when what one thinks, what one says and what one does are in harmony

Gandhi emphasizes the need to be true to oneself.

38. Happiness is not the absence of problems, it is the ability to deal with them.

Steve Maraboli's phrase that indicates that contrary to what many believe being happy does not imply not suffering difficulties.

39. Your task is not to search for love, but to search and find the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

The poet Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi refers in this sentence to the fact that although most people look for love, they do not realize that they often put up barriers that make it difficult to find it.

40. You win and you lose, you go up and down, you are born and you die. And if the story is so simple, why do you care so much?

This phrase by Facundo Cabral refers to the needlessness of worrying about everything that happens, instead of accepting what comes.

41. I'll go anywhere, as long as it is forward

The famous explorer David Livingstone reflects the need to move forward and not stagnate in life.

42. True wisdom is in acknowledging one's own ignorance

Socrates saw the recognition of one's own limits as something worthy of the wise, being against the claim to know of many intellectual assumptions.

43. Long is the path of teaching by means of theories; brief and effective by means of examples

Seneca reflected on the best ways to learn and he concluded that learning that is made meaningful by clear examples for learners is much more effective than merely rote learning.

44. Everyone who enjoys believes that what matters about the tree is the fruit, when in reality it is the seed. Here is the difference between those who believe and those who enjoy

Friedrich Nietzsche indicates that whoever reflects and believes is capable of seeing the basis of things and does not merely remain superficial.

45. How small you are, blade of grass. Yes, but I have the whole Earth at my feet

Rabindranath Tagore expresses that as small as we may see ourselves, we have a large number of opportunities to take advantage of in our lives that can take us practically where we want.

46. Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.

This phrase by Scott Fitzgerald shows that we must think that both what we do and what we do not form part of and configure our life.

47. All our lives began with human affection as the first support. Children who grow up surrounded by affection smile more and are kinder. They are generally more balanced

The Dalai Lama reflects the fact that we all need, especially in our first steps, human warmth and love.

48. If you want different results, do not do the same

Albert Einstein reflects the need to vary what we do if we intend to achieve different things. Persisting in the same attitudes will not change things.

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49. If you fool me once, it's your fault; if you fool me two, it's mine

Anaxagoras indicated that we must not be naive and that we must be careful so that they do not take advantage of us.

50. Keep in mind that great love and great achievements require great risks.

Achieving great goals requires effort, risk and sacrifice, as the Dalai Lama said.

51. Let's thank the people who make us happy; they are the lovely gardeners who make our souls bloom

Proust makes us reflect on those who are close to us and make life happy.

52. I don't share your opinion, but I would give my life to defend your right to express it

Voltaire reflects on the right that we should all have to be able to think what we want freely.

53. No person deserves your tears, and whoever deserves them won't make you cry

Gabriel García Márquez said this phrase, indicating that the one who deserves our affection will be the one who loves us and does not hurt us unless it is necessary.

54. What is worrisome is not the perversity of the wicked but the indifference of the good

Martin Luther King makes us reflect on the need to fight for what we believe to be just and not turn a blind eye to injustice.

55. One does not have the right to love and hate something unless one has acquired a deep knowledge of its nature.

Leonardo Da Vinci believes that we should not rush to appreciate or despise things without making an effort to understand them first.

56. Happiness is internal, not external, therefore it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are

Be happy, according to Pablo Neruda tells usIt depends on how we feel about ourselves and the world.

57. I'm not black, I'm a man

Once again, another phrase by Martin Luther King that makes us think about labels, prejudices, discrimination and the segregation of people according to socially established categories despite the fact that we are all people.

58. Only fools believe that silence is a void. It is never empty. And sometimes the best way to communicate is by keeping quiet

Phrase by Eduardo Galeano that reflects that even the absence of communication is communicating something.

59. Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains

This phrase by Jean-Jacques Rousseau makes us reflect on the different aspects of our lives that often chain us and make it difficult for us to be ourselves.

60. I love you not for who you are, but for who I am when I'm with you.

Romantic phrase by Gabriel García Márquez that reflects that love makes us see the world with another perspective, regardless of what the loved one is like.

61. I never think about the future. comes too soon

Albert Einstein tells us that worrying too much about the future is useless because sooner rather than later it will end up arriving whether we worry about it or not.

62. There is a secret to living happily with your loved one: do not try to change it

The poet Dante Aligheri expresses the importance of not trying to change those we love and accepting it as it is.

63. A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.

Oscar Wilde reflects the need to think independently without depending on the thoughts of others.

64. If he had observed all the rules, he wouldn't have gotten anywhere.

Marilyn Monroe reflects that sometimes it is necessary to challenge the established in order to move forward.

65. No matter what you do in life, do it with all your heart.

Confucius indicates in this phrase the need to put effort into everything we do.

66. Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

Henry Ford indicates the importance of believing in our own opportunities.

67. Mystery is the most beautiful thing we can experience. It is the source of all true art and science.

Einstein makes us see that it is the unknown and mysterious in life that drives us forward, finding new things to see and discover and new ways to try to understand them.

68. I have not failed. I've just found ten thousand ways that don't work

Phrase attributed to Thomas Edison in which he reflects that not getting it right is not a failure but it serves to learn.

69. We all have a secret kept under lock and key in the attic of our soul.

Phrase by Carlos Ruiz Zafón that reflects that we all have secrets and parts that we reserve only for ourselves.

70. Think of all the beauty that is still around you and be happy.

Despite what happens, we can always find something of beauty in life, as Anne Frank reminds us in this sentence.

71. I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.

Albert Einstein tells us in this sentence about the importance of present sacrifices to achieve future results.

72. What times will we live in, that it is necessary to defend the obvious

Bertolt Brecht denounced in this quote the turbulent period that he had to live in Europe between the wars and the subsequent Second World War.

73. Theory is sooner or later killed by experience.

Einstein gave much more importance to practical knowledge and experience than to theory.

74. The time that is enjoyed is the true time lived.

Jorge Bucay is committed to living time to the fullest and doing what we really want without fear of considering that we are losing it.

75. In chaos he seeks simplicity, and in discord harmony.

Bruce Lee was a great teacher and in his teachings he incorporated very important philosophical guidelines.

76. In moments of crisis, only imagination is more important than knowledge.

Einstein was committed to promoting imagination and creativity over formal knowledge.

77. The key to freedom is living a life worth remembering.

Bruce Lee brings us what for him is the secret of freedom, based on making every day worthwhile.

78. The joy of life consists in always having something to do, someone to love and something to look forward to.

A recipe that we can apply in daily life to be happy. By Thomas Chalmeres.

79. Happiness is not doing what one wants but wanting what one does

Jean Paul Sartre reveals to us the secret to being happy in life.

80. When you die, you don't know you're dead, you don't suffer from it, but it's hard for the rest. The same thing happens when you're stupid.

One of the most humorous phrases of the German physicist Albert Einstein.

81. Happiness is internal, not external; therefore, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are

A very accurate reflection on happiness, by the great American writer Henry Van Dyke.

82. Mystery is the most beautiful thing we can experience. It is the source of all true art and science.

One of the most important keys to science is curiosity about the mystery, according to Albert Einstein.

83. The true secret of happiness consists in demanding a lot from yourself and very little from others.

A truly important phrase from the French playwright Albert Guiñon, which can serve as a guide for life.

84. Overcome anger with serenity. Overcome evil with kindness. Overcome selfishness with generosity. Beat dishonesty with truth

One of the elementary principles of the Buddhist religion.

85. Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind.

One of Einstein's most important phrases, about the struggle between science and religion.

86. My happiness consists in the fact that I know how to appreciate what I have and do not desire excessively what I do not have.

The writer Leo Tolstoy left us a wide variety of phrases about happiness and the keys to finding it.

87. He who envy does not find peace

One of the most important phrases that we must take into account in our day to day.

88. I do not have special talents, but I am deeply curious.

Albert Einstein was one of the most important scientists of his time.

89. Happiness is the certainty of not feeling lost

Argentine writer and psychodramaturge Jorge Bucay is a true expert on happiness and motivation.

90. The secret of happiness is not always doing what you want, but always wanting what you do

A phrase awarded to the writer Leo Tolstoy, about one of the main keys to happiness.

91. He learns to let go. That is the key to happiness

One of the most important precepts of Buddhism, pronounced by the Buddha himself.

92. Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.

Albert Einstein had to deal with the rise of nationalism in his country, Germany.

93. Happiness is not something prefabricated. It comes from your own actions

One of the best quotes about the happiness of the Dalai Lama.

94. Sad time is ours! It is easier to disintegrate an atom than a prejudice.

One of the most famous phrases of the German physicist Albert Einstein.

95. We look for happiness, but without knowing where, like drunkards looking for their home, knowing that they have one.

The French writer and philosopher Voltaire theorized extensively about happiness and human nature.

96. Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

One of the main phrases that summarize the Buddhist religion.

97. He descends into the depths of yourself, and manages to see your good soul. Happiness is only made by oneself with good behavior

The Greek philosopher Socrates summarizes in this phrase his main philosophical thought.

98. There are two ways to be happy in this life, one is to play the idiot and the other to be

The German psychologist and father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud bequeathed us great phrases like this that have passed down to posterity.

99. The best thing we can do for those who love us is to continue being happy.

Sometimes we must go ahead and be happy, not for ourselves but for those around us on a daily basis.

100. Love is a better teacher than duty

One of Albert Einstein's most famous phrases about life and love.

101. The destiny of men is made of happy moments, all life has them, but not happy times.

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche theorized about happiness, life, and love.

102. Happiness is realizing that nothing is too important

One of the most accurate reflections of the Spanish writer and poet Antonio Gala.

103. Lacking some of the things one desires is an essential condition for happiness

A phrase from Bertand Russell that reminds us that if we had everything we wouldn't know how to value anything.

104. People are usually only as happy as they make their minds.

The former US president gave us several phrases about happiness and life.

105. Wasting the time I enjoy is not wasted time

What some consider wasted time, for us can be used time.

106. Maturity begins to manifest when we feel that our concern is greater for others than for ourselves

Albert Einstein gave us several phrases of great philosophical depth about human nature.

107. Happiness depends on ourselves

The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle theorized at length about happiness.

108. Kindness must become our natural way of life, not the exception

A good way to live life with virtuosity is to spread goodness wherever we go.

109. Freedom is in owning your own life

One of the most famous sentences of the Greek philosopher Plato.

110. For every minute you're angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.

A phrase that we must remember daily, awarded to Ralph Waldo Emerson.