70 Self Reflection Quotes: Looking Inward to Move Forward

These self reflection quotes from great minds will help you better understand your motivations and make progress.

To lead others effectively, you must first start with yourself. The foundation of self-leadership is self-reflection – the willingness to look inward and understand one’s own thoughts, values, and motivations. Below, we’ve gathered a collection of self reflection quotes from influential figures across history and various fields. Whether you’re a leader, an entrepreneur, or simply someone on a path of continuous improvement, these wise words should inspire you to move forward with renewed purpose and clarity!

(by Jonathan M. Pham)

Short Self Reflection Quotes

1. The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates

2. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. – Aristotle

3. Self-reflection is the school of wisdom. – Baltasar Gracián

4. Wisdom comes from reflection. – Deborah Day

5. The only journey is the one within. – Rainer Maria Rilke

Positive self reflection quotes

Motivational Self Reflection Quotes

6. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. – Mark Twain

7. The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. – Thomas Carlyle

8. Reflective thinking turns experience into insight. – John C. Maxwell

9. Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success. – Richard Carlson

10. The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. – Thomas Paine

Inspiring self reflection quotes

Mirror Self Reflection Quotes

11. As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. – Proverbs 27:19

12. We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay – and rise! – Maya Angelou

13. No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. – Taoist Proverb

14. The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet. – Michael LeBoeuf

15. Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. – Ernest Holmes

Importance of self reflection quotes

Quotes About Reflection and Growth

16. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. – Carl Jung

17. The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings. – Okakura Kakuzo

18. Learning without reflection is a waste, reflection without learning is dangerous. – Confucius

19. 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.

20. Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing. – Lawrence Bossidy

Read more: 60 Learning and Development Quotes to Fuel Growth

Self growth quotes

Quotes about Self Reflection and Change

21. Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. – Peter Drucker

22. Self-reflection is the gateway to freedom. – Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

23. Time and reflection change the sight little by little ’till we come to understand. – Paul Cézanne

24. It is not as much about who you used to be, as it is about who you choose to be. – Sanhita Baruah

25. If you are not evolving, you are dying. – Marcus Lemonis

Read more: 57 Change Management Quotes – Wisdom for Leaders & Changemakers

Quotes about refreshing yourself

Self Reflection and Accountability Quotes

26. Everyone is broken. The only difference is how. – Anna-Marie McLemore

27. The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self. – Edward Bulwer‑Lytton

28. 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

29. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. – Abraham Lincoln

30. It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities. – Josiah Stamp

Read more: 40 Accountability Quotes – The Glue That Binds

Quotes about self examination

Quotes about Self Awareness & Assessment

31. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world. – Miguel de Cervantes

32. The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself. – Thales

33. Self-awareness is not the same thing as self-approval, any more than imagination is the same thing as day-dreaming. – Francis Spufford

34. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23

35. Awareness is the greatest agent for change. – Eckhart Tolle

Introspection quotes

Self Realization Quotes

36. The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. – Carl R. Rogers

37. I think we are well-advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. – Joan Didion

38. If we are not regularly deeply embarrassed by who we are, the journey to self-knowledge hasn’t begun. – Alain de Botton

39. Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth. – Rumi

40. It’s better to create something that others criticize than to create nothing and criticize others. – Ricky Gervais

Famous quotes on self reflection

Deep Self Reflection Quotes

41. Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. – Carl Jung

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

43. What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

44. Reflection is the lamp of the heart. If it departs, the heart will have no light. – Imam Al-Haddad

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

Deep self quotes

Philosophy Quotes about Self Reflection

46. To find yourself, think for yourself. – Socrates

47. This above all: to thine own self be true. – William Shakespeare

48. Beliefs are hypotheses to be tested, not treasures to be guarded. – Philip Tetlock

49. We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience. – John Dewey

50. 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

Wise quotes about self reflection

Self Reflection Quotes for Work

51. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. – Steve Jobs

52. Know thyself means this, that you get acquainted with what you know, and what you can do. – Menander

53. Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. – Mark Twain

54. What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Read more: Leadership Self-reflection – Cultivating Excellence Through Clarity

Sayings about self reflection

Self Reflection Quotes about Life

56. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

57. You are where you are in life because of what you believe is possible for yourself. – Oprah Winfrey

58. By becoming self-aware, you gain ownership of reality; in becoming real, you become the master of both inner and outer life. – Deepak Chopra

59. Until you take the journey of self-reflection, it is almost impossible to grow or learn in life. – Iyanla Vanzant

60. Your life is a reflection of your thoughts. If you change your thinking, you change your life. – Brian Tracy

Read more: 75 Positive Thinking Quotes – Inspire Your Best Self

Life reflection quotes

Daily Self Reflection Quotes

61. And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself? – Rumi

62. Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself. – Paul T.P. Wong

63. You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company. – Diane Von Furstenberg

64. Everyone and everything that shows up in our life is a reflection of something that is happening inside of us. – Alan Cohen

65. 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

Quote of the day self reflection

Funny Self Reflection Quotes

66. I can resist everything except temptation. – Oscar Wilde

67. I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. – Oscar Wilde

68. You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with. – Wayne Dyer

69. Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer. – Ellen DeGeneres

70. People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

Quotes about personal reflection

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