70 Self Reflection Quotes: Looking Inward to Move Forward

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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
  1. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. – Aristotle
  1. Self-reflection is the school of wisdom. – Baltasar Gracián
  1. Wisdom comes from reflection. – Deborah Day
  1. The only journey is the one within. – Rainer Maria Rilke

the only journey is the one within

Positive self reflection quotes

Motivational Self Reflection Quotes

  1. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. – Mark Twain
  1. The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. – Thomas Carlyle
  1. Reflective thinking turns experience into insight. – John C. Maxwell
  1. Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success. – Richard Carlson
  1. The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. – Thomas Paine

the real man smiles in trouble

Inspiring self reflection quotes

Mirror Self Reflection Quotes

  1. As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. – Proverbs 27:19
  1. 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
  1. No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. – Taoist Proverb
  1. The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet. – Michael LeBoeuf
  1. Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. – Ernest Holmes

mirror self reflection quotes

Importance of self reflection quotes

Quotes About Reflection and Growth

  1. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. – Carl Jung
  1. The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings. – Okakura Kakuzo
  1. Learning without reflection is a waste, reflection without learning is dangerous. – Confucius
  1. 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.
  1. 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-awareness gives you the capacity to learn

Self growth quotes

Quotes about Self Reflection and Change

  1. Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. – Peter Drucker
  1. Self-reflection is the gateway to freedom. – Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
  1. Time and reflection change the sight little by little ’till we come to understand. – Paul Cézanne
  1. It is not as much about who you used to be, as it is about who you choose to be. – Sanhita Baruah
  1. If you are not evolving, you are dying. – Marcus Lemonis

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

if you are not evolving you are dying

Quotes about refreshing yourself

Self Reflection and Accountability Quotes

  1. Everyone is broken. The only difference is how. – Anna-Marie McLemore
  1. The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self. – Edward Bulwer‑Lytton
  1. 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
  1. You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. – Abraham Lincoln
  1. 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

self reflection and accountability quotes

Quotes about self examination

Quotes about Self Awareness & Assessment

  1. Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world. – Miguel de Cervantes
  1. The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself. – Thales
  1. Self-awareness is not the same thing as self-approval, any more than imagination is the same thing as day-dreaming. – Francis Spufford
  1. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23
  1. Awareness is the greatest agent for change. – Eckhart Tolle

awareness is the greatest agent for change

Introspection quotes

Self Realization Quotes

  1. The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. – Carl R. Rogers
  1. 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
  1. If we are not regularly deeply embarrassed by who we are, the journey to self-knowledge hasn’t begun. – Alain de Botton
  1. Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth. – Rumi
  1. It’s better to create something that others criticize than to create nothing and criticize others. – Ricky Gervais

create something that others criticize

Famous quotes on self reflection

Deep Self Reflection Quotes

  1. Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. – Carl Jung
  1. It is within the boundaries of reflection we are able to become aware of insights that can lead us to understanding. – Kat Lahr
  1. What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  1. Reflection is the lamp of the heart. If it departs, the heart will have no light. – Imam Al-Haddad
  1. 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 reflection quotes

Deep self quotes

Philosophy Quotes about Self Reflection

  1. To find yourself, think for yourself. – Socrates
  1. This above all: to thine own self be true. – William Shakespeare
  1. Beliefs are hypotheses to be tested, not treasures to be guarded. – Philip Tetlock
  1. We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience. – John Dewey
  1. 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

Wise quotes about self reflection

Self Reflection Quotes for Work

  1. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. – Steve Jobs
  1. Know thyself means this, that you get acquainted with what you know, and what you can do. – Menander
  1. Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. – Mark Twain
  1. What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  1. 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

without reflection we go blindly on our way

Sayings about self reflection

Self Reflection Quotes about Life

  1. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
  1. You are where you are in life because of what you believe is possible for yourself. – Oprah Winfrey
  1. By becoming self-aware, you gain ownership of reality; in becoming real, you become the master of both inner and outer life. – Deepak Chopra
  1. Until you take the journey of self-reflection, it is almost impossible to grow or learn in life. – Iyanla Vanzant
  1. 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

your life is a reflection of your thoughts

Life reflection quotes

Daily Self Reflection Quotes

  1. And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself? – Rumi
  1. Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself. – Paul T.P. Wong
  1. You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company. – Diane Von Furstenberg
  1. Everyone and everything that shows up in our life is a reflection of something that is happening inside of us. – Alan Cohen
  1. 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

by three methods we may learn wisdom

Quote of the day self reflection

Funny Self Reflection Quotes

  1. I can resist everything except temptation. – Oscar Wilde
  1. I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. – Oscar Wilde
  1. You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with. – Wayne Dyer
  1. Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer. – Ellen DeGeneres
  1. People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

funny self reflection quotes

Quotes about personal reflection

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