Quotes about relaxation

A collection of quotes on the topic of relaxation, likeness, doing, going.

Quotes about relaxation

Robert A. Heinlein photo
Sadhguru photo
Herodotus photo
Douglas Adams photo
Rick Riordan photo
Daniel Radcliffe photo

“(on way to relax) “I just like to lock my self in a small room and listen to music and watch films all day!””

Daniel Radcliffe (1989) English actor

http://dan-radcliffe.net/index.php/information/facts-favorites/

Avril Lavigne photo
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam photo
Claude Monet photo

“I climb up, go down again, then climb up once more; between all my studies, as a relaxation I explore every footpath, always curious to see something new.”

Claude Monet (1840–1926) French impressionist painter

Quote in Monet's letter from Bordighera (ca. 1884); as cited in: K.E. Sullivan. Monet: Discovering Art, Brockhampton press, London (2004), p. 52
1870 - 1890

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
John Lennon photo

“Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.”

John Lennon (1940–1980) English singer and songwriter
Cassandra Clare photo

“I thought I'd lie on the floor and writhe in pain for awhile. It relaxes me.”

Jace to Alec, pg. 318
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Ashes (2008)

Chi­ma­man­da Ngo­zi Adi­chie photo
Bruce Lee photo
Anthony de Mello photo
Dr. Seuss photo

“you find magic wherever you look. sit back and relax. all you need is a book”

Variant: You can find magic
wherever you look.
Sit back and relax,
all you need is a book.
Source: The Cat in the Hat

John Locke photo
Walter Benjamin photo

“If sleep is the apogee of physical relaxation, boredom is the apogee of mental relaxation. Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience.”

Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) German literary critic, philosopher and social critic (1892-1940)

Source: "The Storyteller" (1936), p. 91

Nikola Tesla photo
Max Planck photo
Bertrand Russell photo

“I am writing to you to tell you of my decision to return to your Government the Carl von Ossietzsky medal for peace. I do so reluctantly and after two years of private approaches on behalf of Heinz Brandt, whose continued imprisonment is a barrier to coexistence, relaxation of tension and understanding between East and West… I regret not to have heard from you on this subject. I hope that you will yet find it possible to release Brandt through an amnesty which would be a boon to the cause of peace and to your country.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Letter to Walter Ulbricht, January 7, 1964. Russell would later write, in his autobiography: "The abduction and imprisonment by the East Germans of Brandt, who had survived Hitler's concentration camps, seemed to me so inhuman that I was obliged to return to the East German Government the Carl von Ossietzky medal which it had awarded me. I was impressed by the speed with which Brandt was soon released".
1960s

Hunter S. Thompson photo
Socrates photo

“How grievously I was disappointed! …I found my philosopher altogether forsaking mind and any other principle of order, but having recourse to air, and ether, and water, and other eccentricities. I might compare him to a person that began by maintaining generally that mind is the cause of the actions of Socrates, but who, when endeavored to explain the causes of my several actions in detail, went on to show that I sit here because my body is made up of bones and muscles; and the bones he would say, are hard and have ligaments which divide them, and the muscles are elastic, and they cover the bones, which also have a covering or environment of flesh and skin which contains them; and as the bones are lifted at their joints by the contraction or relaxation of the muscles, I am able to bend my limbs, and this is why I an sitting here in a curved posture… and he would have a similar explanation of my talking to you, which he would attribute to sound, and air, and hearing, and he would assign ten thousand other causes of the same sort, forgetting to mention the true cause, which is that Athenians have thought fit to condemn me, and accordingly I have thought it better and more right to remain here and undergo my sentence; for I am inclined to think that these muscles and bones of mine would have gone off to Megara or Boeotia… if they had been guided only by their idea of what was best, and if I had not chosen as the better and nobler part… to undergo any punishment that the State inflicts.”

Socrates (-470–-399 BC) classical Greek Athenian philosopher

Plato, Phaedo

Marcel Proust photo

“The bonds that unite another person to ourself exist only in our mind. Memory as it grows fainter relaxes them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we would fain be cheated and with which, out of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we cheat other people, we exist alone. Man is the creature that cannot emerge from himself, that knows his fellows only in himself; when he asserts the contrary, he is lying.”

Les liens entre un être et nous n'existent que dans notre pensée. La mémoire en s'affaiblissant les relâche, et, malgré l'illusion dont nous voudrions être dupes et dont, par amour, par amitié, par politesse, par respect humain, par devoir, nous dupons les autres, nous existons seuls. L'homme est l'être qui ne peut sortir de soi, qui ne connaît les autres qu'en soi, et, en disant le contraire, ment.
Source: In Search of Lost Time, Remembrance of Things Past (1913-1927), Vol. VI: The Sweet Cheat Gone (1925), Ch. I: "Grief and Oblivion"

Gabriel Iglesias photo

“I accidentally wound up at this "dance…place", gentleman clubby place. I wasn't driving, it was an accident; we pulled up to the place, ya know (car engine, brakes), ah! I knew where I was, you can be drunk and know where you are, so long as you hear (drum beats), AAAH! I walked in there and I got recognized by one of the dancers. You gotta call them "dancers" or "entertainers" or they'll get mad at you, "(feminine voice) I am not a stripper, ok?! I'm an entertainer." And I said, "No, I'm an entertainer, you're nasty!" Some girl recognized me, and she said, "Omigawd I know who you are, you're faamous!" And I'm like, "Oh no, oh no!" And some other dancer who was spinning around on a pole overheard famous and she stopped [eek! Looks over]. She walks over, "(feminine voice) Oh my gawd, you're famous? Can I have your autograph?" I was like, "You don't even know who I am." "I don't care; SIGN IT!" "Ok, relax; what's your name?" "Diamond." "What's your last name?" "Rodriguez." "(writing)To Diamond, with all my love and affection…" "HURRY UP!" I got so mad, so I wrote, "George Lopez." I was so drunk, I didn't care; and she freaked out, she was like, "Oh my gawd! OH MY GAWD! You're George Lopez!" I can't help it guys, I was so drunk, I did this; I said, "[George Lopez voice] I know, huh? Ay, ay, cabrona! Why you cry!? Why you crying'!?"”

Gabriel Iglesias (1976) American actor

I'm not gonna lie to you guys, George knows that I do it; I don't think he likes it!
Hot & Fluffy (2007)

Bobby Knight photo

“I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.”

Bobby Knight (1940–2023) American college basketball coach and former player

Knight's reply to interviewer Connie Chung's question. "There are times Bobby Knight can't do it his way—and what does he do then?" From an NBC television interview by Connie Chung on April 25, 1988 as reported in the May 09, 1988 issue of Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067309/index.htm

Honoré de Balzac photo

“When law becomes despotic, morals are relaxed, and vice versa.”

Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) French writer

Quand le despotisme est dans les lois, la liberté se trouve dans les mœurs, et vice versa.
The Wild Ass’s Skin (1831), Part I: The Talisman

Socrates photo
Pope Francis photo
Joe Root photo

“I just told [Ali] to stay calm. Remember that you’ve got more time than you think. In this format of the game the bowlers are under more pressure than you are. Stay nice and relaxed. Thankfully he managed to get us across the line.”

Joe Root (1990) English cricketer

JOE ROOT told Moeen Ali not to panic after he got out in England’s record run-chase against South Africa, quoted on Express.co.uk, "Revealed: What Joe Root said to inspire England to World T20 South Africa win" https://www.express.co.uk/sport/cricket/653851/Joe-Root-Moeen-Ali-World-T20-India-England-South-Africa-cricket-news, March 19, 2016.

Rollo May photo

“The end toward which sex points is gratification and relaxation, whereas eros is a desiring, longing, a forever reaching out, seeking to expand.”

Source: Love and Will (1969), Ch. 3 : Eros in Conflict with Sex, p. 73
Context: Sex can be defined fairly adequately in physiological terms as consisting of the building up of bodily tensions and their release. Eros, in contrast, is the experiencing of the personal intentions and meaning of the act. Whereas sex is a rhythm of stimulus and response, eros is a state of being. The pleasure of sex is described by Freud and others as the reduction of tension; in eros, on the contrary, we wish not to be released from the excitement but rather to hang on to it, to bask in it, and even to increase it. The end toward which sex points is gratification and relaxation, whereas eros is a desiring, longing, a forever reaching out, seeking to expand.

Jawaharlal Nehru photo
Roberto Bolaño photo
Richelle Mead photo

“I thought I'd finally get to relax with Dimitri.”

Source: Bloodlines

Miranda July photo
Martha Graham photo
Ray Bradbury photo

“Work. Don't Think. Relax.”

Variant: Write. Don't think. Relax.
Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

Matt Haig photo
Samuel Johnson photo
Richard Bach photo

“If you really want to remove a cloud from your life, you do not make a big production out of it, you just relax and remove it from your thinking. That's all there is to it.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

page 119
Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Source: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

Dorothy Koomson photo
H. Jackson Brown, Jr. photo

“Loosen up. Relax. Except for rare life-and-death matters, nothing is as important as it first seems.”

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (1940) American writer

Source: Life's Little Instruction Book: 511 Suggestions, Observations, and Reminders on How to Live a Happy and Rewarding Life

Ray Bradbury photo
Steve Martin photo
Paulo Coelho photo
Cassandra Clare photo

“Reading is a gift. It's something you can do almost anytime and anywhere. It can be a tremendous way to learn, relax, and even escape. So, enough about the virtues of reading. Time to read on.”

Richard Carlson (1961–2006) Author, psychotherapist and motivational speaker

Source: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens: Simple Ways to Keep Your Cool in Stressful Times

David Allen photo

“Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax.”

David Allen (1945) American productivity consultant and author

Source: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Aung San Suu Kyi photo
Eric Ripert photo
Jim Butcher photo
Chuck Palahniuk photo
John Flanagan photo

“Standing there, staring at the long shelves crammed with books, I felt myself relax and was suddenly at peace.”

Helene Hanff (1916–1997) Screenwriter, writer

Source: Q's Legacy: A Delightful Account of a Lifelong Love Affair with Books

Richelle Mead photo
Yves Saint Laurent photo
Ani DiFranco photo
Don DeLillo photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo

“But you can't muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.”

Christopher McDougall (1962) American journalist and writer

Source: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Philip Pullman photo
Elizabeth Gilbert photo
Janet Evanovich photo
Richelle Mead photo
Ian Fleming photo
F. Scott Fitzgerald photo
Hugh Laurie photo
Derek Landy photo
Ilchi Lee photo
Rachel Caine photo
T.S. Eliot photo

“But the Church cannot be, in any political sense, either conservative or liberal, or revolutionary. Conservatism is too often conservation of the wrong things: liberalism a relaxation of discipline; revolution a denial of the permanent things.”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author

Source: Christianity and Culture: The Idea of a Christian Society and Notes Towards the Definition of Culture

Malorie Blackman photo
Haruki Murakami photo
Anatole France photo

“Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.”

L'homme est ainsi fait qu'il ne se délasse d'un travail que par un autre.
Pt. II, ch. 4
Source: The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)

Nora Roberts photo
Margaret Atwood photo
Rick Riordan photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Jim Butcher photo
Holly Black photo
Jack Kornfield photo

“Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.”

Jack Kornfield (1945) American writer

Source: A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

Rick Riordan photo
Joyce Brothers photo

“No matter how much pressure you feel at work, if you could find ways to relax for at least five minutes every hour, you'd be more productive.”

Joyce Brothers (1927–2013) Joyce Brothers

As quoted in Succeeding Sane : Making Room for Joy in a Crazy World (1998) by Bonnie St. John Deane, p. 122

Nigella Lawson photo

“I think cooking should be about fun and family. I'm not a trained chef. I don't pretend to be and I think part of my appeal is that my approach to cooking is really relaxed and not rigid. There are no rules in my kitchen.”

Nigella Lawson (1960) British food writer, journalist and broadcaster

As quoted in "British sensation Lawson says cooking should be about fun, family" by Beth Cooney in Oakland Tribune http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20030604/ai_n14551204 (4 June 2003)

Ziaur Rahman photo

“To the Non-Proliferation Treaty, was based on a firm conviction that there can be peace only through the elimination of all nuclear weapons, moved towards the limitation of nuclear armaments and other weapons of mass destruction, are important steps in creating an atmosphere of trust and the relaxation of tensions.”

Ziaur Rahman (1936–1981) President of Bangladesh

Ziaur Rahman's speech in the United Nations Security Council.
Ziaur Rahman in the United Nations - YouTube, 2012-05-30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QASYSWMbDtg,

Alexis De Tocqueville photo
Margaret Thatcher photo
Wassily Kandinsky photo

“Paris [1933 - 1944] with its wonderful (intense soft) light had relaxed my palette — there were other colors, other entirely new forms, and some that I had used years earlier. Naturally I did all this unconsciously.”

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) Russian painter

Quote from his letter to Alfred Barr, Jr., 16 July, 1944; as cited in Vivian Endicott Barnett, et al., 'Kandinsky', exh. cat. [New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2009], p. 70
1930 - 1944

Yves Klein photo