35+ Slow Living Quotes to Slow Down & Enjoy Life

This page lists my all-time favorite slow living quotes to slow down and enjoy life.

Note: This page used to house 500+ quotes about all topics of life. Due to length, you can now find links to more intentional living quotes at the bottom of this page.

When you’re ready to dive deeper, here’s some recommended reading on slow living:

35+ Slow Living Quotes to Slow Down & Enjoy Life

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

“Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” — Chinese Proverb

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius

“Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” — Plato

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” — Lily Tomlin

“Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.” — Shakespeare

“The central tenet of the slow philosophy is taking the time to do things properly, and thereby enjoy them more.” — Carl Honoré

“Being Slow means that you control the rhythms of your own life. You decide how fast you have to go in any given context. If today I want to go fast, I go fast; if tomorrow I want to go slow, I go slow. What we are fighting for is the right to determine our own tempos.” — Carlo Petrini

“Fast and Slow do more than just describe a rate of change. They are shorthand for ways of being, or philosophies of life. Fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity. It is about making real and meaningful connections—with people, culture, work, food, everything. The paradox is that Slow does not always mean slow … It is also possible to do things quickly while maintaining a Slow frame of mind.” — Carl Honoré

“The Slow philosophy can be summed up in a single word: balance. Be fast when it makes sense to be fast, and be slow when slowness is called for. Seek to live at what musicians call the tempo giusto—the right speed.” — Carl Honoré

“A Slow Movement is gaining momentum as more and more people challenge the canard that faster is always better. To take part, you don’t have to ditch your career, toss the iPhone, or join a commune. Living Slow is not about living like a snail. It means doing everything at the right speed—fast, slow, or whatever pace delivers the best results. Many micromovements are already thriving under the Slow umbrella: Slow Food, Slow Cities, Slow Work, Slow Sex, Slow Technology, Slow Education, Slow Parenting, Slow Design, Slow Travel, Slow Fashion, Slow Science, Slow Art.” — Carl Honoré

“When we are calm, unhurried, and free from stress and distractions the brain slips into a richer, more nuanced mode of thought. Some call this Slow Thinking, and the best minds have always understood its power.” — Carl Honoré

“Charles Darwin described himself as a slow thinker. Einstein famously sat in his office … gazing into the middle distance for hours on end … in the intellectual world and the arts, people have always understood the power of looking slowly at the big picture.” — Carl Honoré

“In the war against the cult of speed, the front line is inside our heads. Acceleration will remain our default setting until attitudes change. But changing what we think is just the beginning. If the Slow movement is really to take root, we have to go deeper. We have to change the way we think.” — Carl Honoré

“A genuinely Slow world implies nothing less than a lifestyle revolution.” — Carl Honoré

“Slow Living means structuring your life around meaning and fulfillment. Similar to ‘voluntary simplicity‘ and ‘downshifting,’ it emphasizes a less-is-more approach, focusing on the quality of your life…Slow Living addresses the desire to lead a more balanced life and to pursue a more holistic sense of well-being in the fullest sense of the word. In addition to the personal advantages, there are potential environmental benefits as well. When we slow down, we often use fewer resources and produce less waste, both of which have a lighter impact on the earth.” — Beth Meredith and Eric Storm

“Slow living is just living slowly, in whatever and however way that means to you. It’s about knowing and passionately loving the things we value, and designing our lives to spend the most time possible enjoying them. It’s about having intentionality and consciousness in our activities, about escaping the mindless scrolling and unproductive multi-tasking and focusing on purposeful action. It’s about embracing the fact that you’re not doing it all – it’s about doing less, but better.” — Kayte Ferris

“Slow living is a curious mix of being prepared and being prepared to let go. Caring more and caring less. Saying yes and saying no. Being present and walking away. Doing the important things and forgetting those that aren’t. Grounded and free. Heavy and light. Organized and flexible. Complex and simple.” — Brooke McAlary

“Slow living is about intention, spending more time on things that are important and less on things that aren’t.” — Brooke McAlary

“The foundation of slow remains the same: a return to high-quality basics, a reevaluation of the largely unnecessary ‘must haves’ of modern life, and a focus on going small, local, and community based.” — Brooke McAlary

“Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, it arises naturally as we slow down and notice what is already there.” — Haemin Sunim

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

“Contesting the notion that faster is better – a countercurrent for slow. Thoreau going to Walden pond, Nietzsche talking about too much speed, Bertrand Russell, the hippies … (the) slow moniker or tag has become a global shorthand for a better, more balanced way.” — Carl Honoré

“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.” — Pico Iyer

“The whole struggle of life is to some extent a struggle about how slowly or how quickly to do each thing.” — Sten Nadolny

“The first principle of all action is leisure.” — Aristotle

“The action that follows deliberation should be quick, but deliberation should be slow.” — Aristotle

“Strategy often beats sweat.” — James Clear

“Americans need rest, but do not know it.” — Bertrand Russell

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” — Eddie Cantor

“When things happen too fast, nobody can be certain about anything, about anything at all, not even about himself.” — Milan Kundera

“Sometimes I think there are only two instructions we need to follow to develop and deepen our spiritual life: slow down and let go.” — Oriah Mountain Dreamer

“Slow down. Life is crossing the road.” — Debasish Mridha

“The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” — Moliere

“We need to learn the slow ‘yes’ and the quick ‘no.'” — Tom Friel

“Mindfulness is a state of mind you only can get to if you slow down.” — Geir Berthelsen

“We need, above all things, to slow down and get ourselves to amble through life instead of to rush through it.” — Alan Watts

“It is only when there is no goal and no rush that the human senses are fully open to receive the world.” — Alan Watts

“When I slow down, I can dive deeper—and that’s how I prefer to live.” — Cait Flanders

“Slow down to the speed of wisdom.” — Vicki Robin

“Slowness is the forgotten dimension to time. Unlike chronological time, it is non-linear, time here and now, time that works for you, extraordinary time. So why be fast when you can be slow? Slowness is also about balance, so if you must hurry, then hurry slowly.” — Geir Berthelsen

“There is no hurry, and in a way there is no future. It is all here — so take it easy, take your time, and get acquainted with it.” — Alan Watts

“Being in a hurry does not slow down time.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

More Intentional Living Quotes: