Wellness by Ved

Mindfulness, Reality, and Letting Go— 50+ Alan Watts Quotes!

October 7, 2024 | by Ved

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Alan Watts was one of those thinkers whose words had a way of hitting you just right, especially when life feels a little chaotic. 

 

His thoughts continue to inspire people deeply. In this blog post, you’ll read one of the most inspiring 50+ Alan Watts quotes and explore how his words still resonate with so many today.

Alan Watts

Alan Watt was a man who made you stop and think. Not just about the little things, but about life, existence, and how we fit into the universe. 

 

He was not only a philosopher, but also a storyteller, who made you feel like he was speaking directly to your soul, urging you to slow down, breathe, and just be.

 

It’s like that feeling when you watch a sunset— it’s beautiful, you’re in awe, and for a moment everything feels like the world. Watts had a way of helping you find that kind of peace, no matter what you’re dealing with in life.

 

Let’s get started with these wonderful 50+ Alan Watts quotes that offer a fresh perspective on how we see ourselves and the world around us.

Alan Watts quotes

Alan watts quotes​

Alan Watts had a unique way of simplifying the most complex questions about existence. These Alan Watts quotes on life​ explore his thoughts on the meaning of life.

 

1. “Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.” — Alan Watts 

 

2. “Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”— Alan Watts

 

3. “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and 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

 

4. “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

 

5. “The menu is not the meal— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

6. “I have realized that the future and past are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”— Alan Watts

 

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

 

8. “Like is life music for its own sake. We are living in an eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present.”— Alan Watts

 

9. “When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.”— Alan Watts

 

10. “If we cling to belief in god, we cannot likewise have faith, since faith is not clinging but letting go.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

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Alan watts this is it quotes​

Living in the moment was a central theme in Alan Watts’ teachings. These Alan Watts sayings​ highlight his perspective on being present and to stop worrying about the future or past and focus on now.

 

11. “You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”— Alan Watts

 

12. “Other people teach us who we are. Their attitude to us are the mirror in which we learn to see ourselves, but the mirror is distorted. We are, perhaps, rather dimly aware of the immense power of our social environment.”— Alan Watts

 

13. “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

 

14. “No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them.”— Alan Watts

 

15. “Life is not a problem to be solved, nor a question to be answered. Life is a mystery to be experienced.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

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

 

17. “No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen.”— Alan Watts

 

18. “You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it. Like a wave from the ocean. You are no stranger here.”— Alan Watts

 

19. “It is only when there is no goal and no rush that the human senses are fully open to receive the world.”— Alan Watts

 

20. “A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts, so he loses touch with reality and lives in the world of illusions.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

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Quotes of Alan Watts​

Letting go can be of life’s greatest challenges, but Alan Watts had a profound way of making it seem natural. These Alan Watts quots​ help us understand the power of release and how freeing ourselves from attachment can lead to inner peace.

 

21. “You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”— Alan Watts

 

22. “I’ve been searching for years for the ideal place. And I’ve come to the realization that the only way to find it is to be it.”— Alan Watts

 

23. “What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.”— Alan Watts

 

24. “Hurry, and all that it involves, is fatal.”— Alan Watts

 

25. “There is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

26. “A scholar tries to learn something every day; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily.”— Alan Watts

 

27. “Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.”— Alan Watts

 

28. “The art of meditation is a way of getting into touch with reality, and the reason for it is that most civilized people are out of touch with reality.”— Alan Watts

 

29. “But to me nothing— the negative, the empty- is exceedingly powerful.”— Alan Watts

 

30. “You are the universe experiencing itself.” — Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

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Alan Watts quote​

Mindfulness is at the heart of Alan Watts philosophy and these best Alan Watts quotes​ are an inspiring guide to finding peace in everyday life. 

 

31. “Nirvana is where you are, provided you don’t object to it.”— Alan Watts

 

32. “It has been said that the highest wisdom lies in detachment.”— Alan Watts

 

33. “We need, above all things, to slow down and get ourselves to amble through life instead of to rush through it.”— Alan Watts

 

34. “Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up.. Now try to imagine what it was like to wake up having never gone to sleep.”— Alan Watts

 

35. “You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

36. “The only zen you find on the tops of mountains is the zen you bring up there.”— Alan Watts

 

37. “Running away from fear is fear. Fighting pain is pain. Trying to be brave is being scared. If the mind is in pain, the mind is pain.”— Alan Watts

 

38. “But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.”— Alan Watts

 

39. “You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with a great telescope.”— Alan Watts

 

40. “We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

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Alan Watts on love quotes

The universe and our connection to it was a major theme in Alan Watts’ work. These Alan Watts quotes about life​ explore his cosmic perspective, reminding us that we are all interconnected and part of something much larger than ourselves.

 

41. “Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.”— Alan Watts

 

42. “The relationship of self to others is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.”— Alan Watts

 

43. “But this is the most powerful thing that can be done— surrender. See, and love is an act of surrender to another person.”— Alan Watts

 

44. “No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”— Alan Watts

 

45. “Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

46. “There is no formula for generating authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied.”— Alan Watts

 

47. “The risk in love.”— Alan Watts

 

48. “When you find out that there was never anything in the dark side to be afraid of.. Nothing is left but to love.”— Alan Watts

 

49. “I am what happens between the maternity ward and the crematorium.”— Alan Watts

 

50. “The more we struggle for life as pleasure, the more we are actually killing what we love.”— Alan Watts

Alan Watts quotes

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are some Alan Watts quotes on love​?

Here are some Alan Watts quotes on love:

  • “Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.”— Alan Watts

 

  • “The relationship of self to others is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.”— Alan Watts

 

  • “But this is the most powerful thing that can be done— surrender. See, and love is an act of surrender to another person.”— Alan Watts

 

  • “No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”— Alan Watts

 

  • “Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.”— Alan Watts

 

What was Alan Watts’ famous quote?

Here’s Alan Watts’ famous quote:

  • “Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.” — Alan Watts 

 

  • “Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”— Alan Watts

 

  • “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and 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

 

  • “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

 

  • “The menu is not the meal— Alan Watts

 

What is the ocean quotes Alan Watts?

Here’s the ocean quotes from 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.” ― Alan Wilson Watts

 

Conclusion

Alan Watts’ wisdom continues to resonate because it speaks to something timeless within us all—the desire for peace, understanding, and connection in a world that often feels overwhelming. 

 

Hope you’ve enjoyed the article, as these Alan Watts quotes about love​ remind us that life isn’t meant to be controlled or rigid, but embraced and experienced as it comes, with all its ups and downs. 

 

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