More quotes, quotations and passages on living in the present moment

Our latest moment is always
our supreme moment.

Samuel Butler

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

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

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

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

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

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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

Now is all I have.   Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the
lazy. I am not lazy.   Tomorrow is the day when the evil becomes good.
I am not evil.   Tomorrow is the day when the weak become strong.   I
am not weak. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed.
I am not a failure. I will act now.

Og Mandino
The Greatest Secret in the World

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

Maria Edgeworth

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

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

Thomas Carlyle

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

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

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

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 vision 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

now - now 3

It seems, oddly enough, that it's people with a strong faith who are best
able to live in the present moment. Enjoyment of the present, care for
the quality of life: these are a kind of reverence, a kind of faith in life
itself. The present is valuable, this faith tells us: it is all we have.

Karen Casey

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

The present moment is the only moment in which you can find
everything you’ve been looking for, and that you already
are everything you want to become.

Thich Nhat Hanh
The Art of Living

The power of memories and expectations is such that for most
human beings the past and the future are not as real, but more
real than the present. The present cannot be lived happily
unless the past has been “cleared up” and the future is bright
with promise. . . . it is of little use to us to be able to remember
and predict if it makes us unable to live fully in the present.
What is the use of planning to be able to eat next week unless
I can really enjoy the meals when they come? If I am so busy
planning how to eat next week that I cannot fully enjoy what I
am eating now, I will be in the same predicament when next
week’s meals become “now.”
If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing
happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this
present. I shall still be dimly aware of the present when the good
things that I have been expecting come to pass. For I shall have
formed a habit of looking behind and ahead, making it difficult
for me to attend to the here and now. If, then, my awareness of
the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must
begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.

Alan Watts
The Wisdom of Insecurity

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

Present-moment living, getting in touch with your now, is at the heart of
effective living. When you think about it, there really is no other moment you
can live. Now is all there is, and the future is just another present
moment to live when it arrives.

Wayne Dyer

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 persons 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

The present moment includes what is all around us, both visible and invisible,
including the moment’s antecedents and descendents. The full awareness of
the present moment contains the awareness of every condition, thing, and
situation leading up to the moment that made it possible and all the possibilities
for the future it contains as well. Being in the present moment doesn’t mean we
ignore what we know about the past and the future. I don’t jump off of cliffs,
even if the air is beautiful and the wind inviting, because I think of the moment
after. I don’t touch hot stoves because I’ve learned in a past moment that it
really hurts. But being in the present moment means that we acknowledge that,
even with all that we already know, there is something utterly unique and fresh
to the singular moment that we are in right now.

Rachel Neumann
Not Quite Nirvana: A Skeptic's Journey to Mindfulness

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now - now 3

Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most
wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now.
Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely
nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way.

Eileen Caddy

It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future.
Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain
experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for
the future, but we don't know if there is one.

George Harrison

From the spiritual side:

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

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

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

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

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

John A.T. Robinson