Life, with its twists and turns, often calls for a pause — a moment of reflection.
It is in these quiet moments that we find the opportunity to grow, learn, and shape our path.
Here are the best reflection quotes I could find online to remind you to pause and get a fresh perspective on the world around you.
Let them light your way through life’s complexities!
1. “There is one art of which people should be masters — the art of reflection.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
2. “Reflection is the lamp of the heart. If it departs, the heart will have no light.” — Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad
3. “Everyone and everything that shows up in our life is a reflection of something that is happening inside of us.” — Alan Cohen
4. “The older you get, the more you realize that the way you look is a reflection of how you treat yourself.” — Hope Davis
5. “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” — Thomas Paine
6. “To doubt everything, or, to believe everything, are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.” — Henri Poincare
7. “Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.” — Albert Einstein
8. “Our outward appearance is a reflection of what we are on the inside. Our lives reflect that for which we seek.” — Margaret D. Nadauld
9. “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
10. “Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” — Margaret J. Wheatley
1. “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” — Peter Drucker
2. “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings
3. “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
4. “Be a reflection of what you’d like to receive. If you want love, give love. If you want truth, be truthful. What you give out will always return.” — Kristen Butler
5. “Let your life reflect the faith you have in God. Fear nothing and pray about everything. Be strong, trust God’s word, and trust the process.” — Germany Kent
6. “Keep both heart and hand in your own possession, till you see good reason to part with them; and if such an occasion should never present itself, comfort your mind with this reflection: that, though in single life your joys may not be very many, your sorrows, at least, will not be more than you can bear.” — Anne Bronte
7. “So I had to be careful. I recognized the responsibility that, whether I liked it or not, I had to accept whatever the obligation was. That was to behave in a manner, to carry myself in such a professional way, as if there ever is a reflection, it’s a positive one.” — Sidney Poitier
8. “Music is critical in our lives and culture. It’s the inspiration that drives us. It’s also the window to our souls. It’s a reflection as to who we are, what we stand for and where we’re going.” — Bill Walton
9. “Maybe it’s good, I said, to stop sometimes and reflect upon the things that have happened, maybe thinking about sadness can actually end up making you happy.” — Jessica Au (Cold Enough for Snow)
10. “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
11. “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” — John Quincy Adams
12. “Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.”— John Locke
13. “The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we inhabit are not only critical elements in the quality of life we enjoy – they are a reflection of the majesty of our Creator.” — Rick Perry
14. “It is a most delightful reflection that if I come to the throne of God in prayer, I may feel a thousand defects, but yet there is hope.” — Charles Spurgeon
15. “Surround yourself with really good people. I think that’s an important thing. Because the people you surround yourself are a reflection of you.” — Aaron Rodgers
16. “When I am critical of others, I am actually exposing my own sin. If Christ lives in me, continually extending His mercy toward me, I will reflect His compassion by caring about the needs of others rather than by criticizing them.” — June Hunt
17. “We are reflections of one another, therefore I know that you are part of me and I am part of you because we are all projections of the universal principles of creation/destruction polarities of the same infinite consciousness that we call God.” — David Icke
18. “Our kids are reflections of us. How we interact with others, even in a hostile situation… how we respond and our children see that is how they are going to respond.” — Martin Luther King III
19. “Human intelligence is a reflection of the intelligence that produces everything. In knowing, we are simply extending the intelligence that comes to and constitutes us. We mimic the mind of God, so to speak. Or better, we continue and extend it.” — Huston Smith
20. “If I can inspire one spark of awareness or get a spark of introspection or reflection about someone else’s life, that’s a beautiful thing, in my opinion.” — Noah Centineo
21. “In moments of quiet reflection, our minds embrace the sea that we have crossed.” — Holmes
22. “It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.” — Claude Monet
23. “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.” — John C. Maxwell
24. “Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success.” — Richard Carlson
See also: 220 Best Proverbs About Success To Give You Inspiration
25. “Quiet reflection is often the mother of deep understanding. Maintain that peaceful nursery, enabling stillness to speak.” — Tom Althouse
26. “We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” — John Dewey
27. “Reflection… Looking back so the view looking forward is clearer.” — Unknown
28. “Time and reflection change the sight little by little ’till we come to understand.” — Paul Cezanne
29. “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” — Mark Twain
30. “A soul without reflection, like a pile Without inhabitant, to ruin runs.” — Edward Young
1. “Self-reflection is a desire felt by the body, as well as the soul.” — Susan Griffin
2. “People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot.” — Bryant McGill
3. “With all of the bad things that are happening in the world right now, I think we need a message of togetherness and true unity. I believe that starts with personal reflection and then we can find kindness toward each other.” — Marielle Heller
4. “When you recognize and reflect on even one good thing about yourself, you are building a bridge to a place of kindness and caring.” — Sharon Salzberg (Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection)
5. “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
6. “Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” — Cesar Chavez
7. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? ”— Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles”
8. “Self-reflection is a much kinder teacher than regret is. Prioritize yourself by making a habit of it.” — Andrena Sawyer
9. “Self-reflection is an important stage to diagnose, develop and strengthen your creativity.” — Pearl Zhu
10. “Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted — it is an intimate date with yourself.” — Paul TP Wong
11. “Let go of rejections and focus on self-reflection. For it is within that you will find the light you seek.” — Amy Leigh Mercree (The Compassion Revolution: 30 Days of Living from the Heart)
See also: Brilliant List Of 120 Light Quotes To Awaken Your Mind
12. “Difficulty creates the opportunity for self-reflection and compassion.” — Suzan-Lori Parks
13. “We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we’re wrong. Someone we trust.” ― David Levithan, Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List
14. “To achieve happiness I advocate four major principles, the principles of love, wisdom, self-reflection, and progress.” — Ryuho Okawa
See also: 120 Ultimate Best Quotes About Progress To Fuel Your Growth
15. “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
16. “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, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
17. “If I speak of myself in different ways, that is because I look at myself in different ways.” ― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
18. “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
19. “After a disappointment, analyze your actions, get feedback from friends, and take inventory of what you could do better next time. This type of self-reflection and improvement will ultimately make success inevitable.” — Jillian Michaels
20. “Honest self-reflection opens your mind to reprogramming, change, success, and freedom.” — Vikas Runwal
21. “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
22. “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
23. “When I am sharply judgmental of any other person, it’s because I sense or see reflected in them some aspect of myself that I don’t want to acknowledge.” — Gabor Maté
24. “Self-reflection is necessary to dig beneath our own layers and visit the inner crevices of our heart and mind to develop an understanding of life.” — Unknown
25. “Your soul needs time for solitude and self-reflection. In order to love, lead, heal, and create, you must nourish yourself first.” — Linda Joy
See also: 140 Quotes About Solitude That Will Make Sense To You
26. “There is no greater journey than the one that you must take to discover all of the mysteries that lie within you.” — Michelle Sandlin
27. “The light you are searching for can be found in your reflection.” — Hannah Blum
28. “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” — Aldos Huxley
29. “Take this moment to pause, and observe what your thoughts do. Take note of what sensations you feel before, during, and after you pause. In stillness, you’ll discover the roots of your true nature. Come back to you today, dear one.” — The Moon Tarot
30. “Self-reflection is a kind of self-judgment. The difference is just this — the former is positive and the latter is negative.” — Balroop Singh
See also: List Of Top 100 Self-Reflection Quotes To Help You Thrive
1. “I have always preferred the reflection of the life to life itself.” — Francois Truffaut
2. “We’re all reflections of the lives we lead.” — Jaimoe
3. “Life has highs, lows, loud and quiet moments, beautiful ones and ugly ones. Music is a reflection of life.” — Bonobo
4. “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise, we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” — Thomas Merton
5. “Life is only a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see and be.” — Trudy Symeonakis Vesotsky
6. “Reflection is only a partial understanding of truth if it does not translate itself in practice into commitments to the common good and justice. Truth is not mere abstraction but something to be done and is only apprehended when this is realized.” — Adolfo Perez Esquivel
7. “Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom.” — Anatole France
8. “I’m not a religious person but I do like the idea of Sunday as a day set apart from the rest of the week. It’s nice to have a period of reflection and have time to think about things.” — Jarvis Cocker
See also: 90 Sunday Motivation Quotes For A Relaxed Weekend
9. “Reflection is nothing more than what it sounds, and pondering one’s own life is about as productive as talking to one’s image in a mirror: both acts are egocentric and neither produces a dialog. People who talk to themselves in public are not self-actualized; they’re crazy.” — Anthony Marais
10. “Your life is a reflection of your thoughts. If you change your thinking, you change your life.” — Brian Tracy
11. “One of the saddest things in life, is the things one remembers.” ― Agatha Christie
12. “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
13. “Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.” ― Yvonne Woon, Dead Beautiful
14. “Human beings, viewed as behaving systems, are quite simple. The apparent complexity of our behavior over time is largely a reflection of the complexity of the environment in which we find ourselves.” — Herbert A. Simon
15. “Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” — Winston Churchill
See also: 130 Joyful Christmas Family Quotes To Warm Your Heart
16. “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
17. “Style is a reflection of your attitude and your personality.” — Shawn Ashmore
18. “The artistic creation of the poet, painter, photographer, and writer is a reflection of the artist’s inner world.” — Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
19. “My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.” — John Lennon
20. “In silence and movement you can show the reflection of people.” — Marcel Marceau
21. “Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous.” — Confucius
22. “Marriage is a reflection of your life in general: how you treat people, how you argue, how secure you are in your own thoughts. How vehemently do you argue your point of view? With what disdain do you view the other’s point of view?” — William Shatner
23. “People of the world don’t look at themselves, and so they blame one another.” — Rumi
24. “Mass communication, radio, and especially television, have attempted, not without success, to annihilate every possibility of solitude and reflection.” — Eugenio Montale
25. “Your home is the truest and most honest reflection of who you are, where you’ve been, and where you want to go.” — Jeremiah Brent
26. “It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.” — Samuel Johnson
27. “They only babble who practise not reflection.” — Edward Young
28. “Imaginary evils soon become real one by indulging our reflections on them.” — John Ruskin
29. “Good looks are not something you earn. But as you get older, how you look is a reflection of the life you’ve led.” — Diana Quick
30. “The home is the center of your soul; it’s a total reflection of your inner life. If you have a dreary home, it means you are dark inside.” — Alexandra Stoddard
1. “Some nights are made for torture, or reflection, or the savoring of loneliness.” ― Poppy Z.Brite
2. “I don’t think we spend enough time in reflection and introspection. We don’t know who we are as individuals in this culture anymore.” — Naomi Judd
3. “Somebody said: “About two persons I have never reflected very thoroughly: that is the testimony of my love for them.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (The Genealogy Of Morals)
4. “Food is a reflection of who you are as a person.” — Adrienne C. Moore
5. “Men should pledge themselves to nothing; for reflection makes a liar of their resolution.” — Sophocles
6. “Is that what you see in my eyes, that you know nothing about me?” “Nothing is written in your eyes”. I replied. “It is written in my eyes and i see the reflection in yours.” — Haruki Murakami (South of the Border, West of the Sun)
7. “Thanksgiving, for me, is a time for reflection.” — Trish Regan
8. “Self-criticism and negative thoughts about yourself will attract people who reflect this back to you, showing critical behavior and can abuse you physically.” — Hina Hashmi (Your Life A Practical Guide to Happiness Peace and Fulfilment)
9. “What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” — James Madison
10. “Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revelry is the same flower when rank and running to seed.” — Desiderius Erasmus
11. “We’re fascinated with robots because they are reflections of ourselves.” — Ken Goldberg
12. “We believe there are certain things people “have,” certain things people “do,” and even certain things people “are.” These beliefs do not necessarily reflect the structure of reality they simply reflect an habitual way of talking about reality.” — Neil Postman
13. “We cannot observe external things without some degree of Thought; nor can we reflect upon our Thoughts, without being influenced in the course of our reflection by the Things which we have observed.” — William Whewell
14. “Humans naturally reflect their nature upon the nature of their God. So to know a person, just ask what the person thinks about their God. It’s either that, or an individual aims to reflect the nature of their God onto themselves; in either case, just ask about the God and you will know the person, or at least, what the person thinks of himself.” — C. JoyBell C.
15. “You’re the same yet everyone speaks so differently about you. It’s the reflection of their own intelligence and maturity.” — Sarvesh Jain
16. “I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty.” — Albert Einstein
17. “In a free society, government reflects the soul of its people. If people want change at the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not the cause of our decadence. They are a reflection of it.” — Cal Thomas
18. “Common sense is judgment without reflection, shared by an entire class, an entire nation, or the entire human race.” — Giambattista Vico
19. “We experience happiness as a series of pleasing moments. They come and go like clouds, unpredictable, fleeting, and without responsibility to our desires. Through honest self-work, reflection, and meditation, we begin to string more of these moments together, creating a web-like design of happiness that drapes around our lives.” — Tara Stiles
20. “Wouldn’t you say that most of us are a reflection of or a reaction to the people who have been closest to us?” — Bob Goff
21. “Dates that come around every year help us measure progress in our lives. One annual event, New Year’s Day, is a time of reflection and resolution.” — Joseph B. Wirthlin
22. “With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.” — Eric Hoffer
23. “A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one’s life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted.” — George Santayana
24. “Music is always a reflection of what’s going on in the hearts and minds of the culture.” — Tori Amos
25. “Humanity was created in the image of God; our love is a reflection of his.” — Meir Soloveichik
26. “It is not so much the example of others we imitate as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of ourselves in their words.” — Eric Hoffer
27. “Reflection is not something you have a lot of time for.” — Robert Battle
28. “I think there’s a terrible price to be paid when your exterior life is not an honest reflection of your interior life.” — Gene Robinson
29. “Your relationship to food is but a reflection of your relationship to yourself, as is everything in your life.” — Marianne Williamson
30. “The coming of honor or disgrace must be a reflection of one’s inner power.” — Xun Kuang
See also: 130 Best Positive Inner Strength Quotes To Build You Up
1. “The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.” — William Makepeace Thackeray
2. “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
3. “I often stood in front of the mirror alone, wondering how ugly a person could get.” ― Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye
4. “As social beings we live with our eyes upon our reflection, but have no assurance of the tranquillity of the waters in which we see it.” — Charles Horton Cooley
5. “Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you’re just a reflection of him?” ― Bill Watterson
6. “It took a lot of years of me on my own, coaching myself, to look in the mirror and love the reflection.” — Alyssa Edwards
7. “Your self-esteem won’t come from body parts. You need to step away from the mirror every once in a while, and look for another reflection, like the one in the eyes of the people who love you and admire you.” — Stacy London
8. “It is when you lose sight of yourself, that you lose your way. To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon.” — C. JoyBell C.
9. “A healthy social life is found only when, in the mirror of each soul, the whole community finds its reflection, and when, in the whole community, the virtue of each one is living.” — Rudolf Steiner
10. “I’ve found from my own experiences that the world generally gives you back what you believe about it, like a mirror reflecting our role in it.” — Virginia Burges
11. “It’s torment to look in the mirror and not recognize the man in the reflection. How amazing would it be to love someone through their honest and ugly moments?! It takes a journey to work off the mask to become authentic and whole.” — Israel Houghton
12. “Nobody of us has ever seen ourselves! We see a reflection in the mirror.” — Udo Kier
13. “Customs and convictions change; respectable people are the last to know, or to admit, the change, and the ones most offended by fresh reflections of the facts in the mirror of art.” — John Updike
14. “To me, fashion is like a mirror. It’s a reflection of the times. And if it doesn’t reflect the times, it’s not fashion. Because people aren’t gonna be wearing it.” — Anna Sui
15. “In a mirror is where we find a reflection of our appearances, but in a heart is where we find a reflection of our soul.” — Unknown
16. “I do still get shocked every once in a while when I catch my reflection when I’m walking past a glass building, but it’s in my mind about getting older and finding out what I’m going to look like as it unfolds – or as it folds, depending on where the marks and scars land.” — Dave Matthews
17. “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” — Proverb
18. “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
19. “If you think about human nature, our favorite pair of shoes are the ones we bought yesterday, our favorite thing is the newest thing that we have…and the thing we’ve seen the most and for the longest period of time is our reflection in the mirror, so obviously that’s going to be our least favorite thing.” — Taylor Swift
20. “Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” — Ernest Holmes
21. “One can not reflect in streaming water. Only those who know internal peace can give it to others.” — Lao Tzu
22. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton
23. “The mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else’s eyes.” — Voltaire
24. “Your flesh is not a reflection of your soul. So when you look in the mirror, remember that your light outshines your flaws.” — D. Antoinette Foy
25. “Thirst drove me down to the water where I drank the moon’s reflection.” — Rumi
26. “A healthy social life is found only when, in the mirror of each soul, the whole community finds its reflection, and when, in the whole community, the virtue of each one is living.” — Rudolf Steiner
27. “You mirror what the world mirrors to you.” — Jennifer Lopez
28. “I’m a mirror. If you’re cool with me, I’m cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you don’t like what you see, then you’ve done something. If I’m standoffish, that’s because you are.” — Jay-Z
29. “A mirror reflects what you see, and a black mirror shows the dark side of it.” — Madeline Brewer
30. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton
1. “Work needs to be a reflection of your social values. You are how you work!” — Leigh Steinberg
2. “The type of person you are is usually reflected in your business. To improve your business, first improve yourself.” ― Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability
3. “Our work should be a reflection of society, and if you’re not concerned with including all of society, then I don’t really know what you’re doing making art in the first place.” — Sasheer Zamata
4. “The more reflective you are, the more effective you are.” — Hall and Simeral
5. “I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values.” — Sidney Poitier
6. “Living in a way that reflects ones values is not just about what you do, it is also about how you do things.” — Deborah Day
7. “The capacity to reflect is at the heart of what it is to be an effective learner.” — Bill Lucas
8. “I think I’d say that my whole body of work is a reflection of who I am, but not any one specific thing.” — Zooey Deschanel
9. “I’m trying to make work that is reflective and is encouraging of reflection.” — Antony Gormley
10. “You set a goal, and then you get to work. How well you do is a direct reflection of how hard you work.” — Ivanka Trump
I hope you liked these reflection quotes and that they reminded you of the importance of connecting with your thoughts and feelings and gaining some fresh perspective.
Let them be your companions on the path of self-discovery, mindfulness, and growth!
