9 Alan Watts Quotes That Will Open Your Eyes To A New Way of Living
Alan Watts was a truly insightful philosopher who helped many
understand ancient wisdom in a fresh way.
He had a gift for explaining complex ideas about life, reality,
and our own minds, often challenging the usual ways we think
about things like time, worry, and who we are.
Reading his words can feel like seeing the world through new eyes,
offering a different perspective that helps you let go of old ways
of thinking and embrace life more fully.
This article explores nine powerful quotes from Alan Watts.
They are insights that have the potential to truly open your eyes
and inspire you towards a freer, more conscious,
and brand new way of living.
Here are the 9 Alan Watts Quotes That Will Open Your Eyes To A New Way of Living:
1. “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
Life isn’t meant to be controlled—it’s meant to be lived
with fluidity and trust in the unfolding.
2. “This is the real secret of life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
When we stop resisting the present moment as an obstacle,
every action becomes a sacred game.
3. “You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”
Your consciousness isn’t separate from existence—you
are existence experiencing itself in human form.
4. “Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.”
The ego’s futile search for solid identity misses the truth:
you are the boundless space aware of the search, not its object.
5. “The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.”
Your suffering comes from clinging to what cannot last
embrace impermanence, and you embrace aliveness itself.
6. “Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”
The mind’s chaos settles not by force, but by surrendering the illusion
that you need to “fix” your thoughts to find peace.
7. “What you are basically, deep, deep down, far within, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.”
Your true self isn’t a fragile separate entity—it’s the whole cosmos
temporarily wearing a “person” costume.
8. “The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other.”
Real freedom lies in dancing between surrender and action—like
a surfer riding life’s waves without demanding stillness.
9. “You don’t get enlightenment by chasing it—you are it, right now, pretending not to be.”
The cosmic joke: seeking what you already are keeps you
from laughing at the perfection of this very moment.
