35+ Profound Old Soul Quotes

Calm, insightful and wise beyond their years, the Old Soul perceives the world with ancient eyes, feels the world with an ancient heart, and comprehends the world with an ancient soul.

Their inner solitude and increasing detachment from the transitory world is precisely what makes them great prophetic voices in the wilderness, and illuminating lanterns in the dark.

Most of us have met at least one Old Soul during our lifetimes.  These are the enlightening people who teach us lessons, lead by example and exhibit unending patience and wisdom.

Some of us even feel old in soul, as we quietly tread our solitary paths, seeking for spiritual wholeness and fulfillment, while at the same time becoming increasingly distanced from the physical plane.

Today, in this article, I want to share with you a compilation of over 35 quotes from a variety of historical, and modern day Old Souls.  My hopes are that their thoughts, captured in brief sentences throughout time, will stir up the most profound realizations within you, or at the very least, cause a spark of thought to erupt inside of you.

35+ Old Soul Quotes

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In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. ~ Robert Frost Tweet

Forever is composed of nows. ~ Emily Dickinson Tweet

Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges. ~ Carlos Castaneda

In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love? ~ Igor Stravinsky Tweet

I’m a believer in belief.  Faith is something that works – it causes people to do things, it has results.  It’s an intangible, indefinable, very real thing.  And it moves people, sometimes to atrocity.  And sometimes to survival. ~ Tommy Lee Jones

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. ~ James Taylor Tweet

I have always been resistant to doctrine, and any spirituality I had experienced thus far in my life had been much more abstract and not aligned with any recognized religion.  For me, the most trustworthy vehicle for spirituality had always proven to be music.  It cannot be manipulated, or politicized, and when it is, that becomes immediately obvious. ~ Eric Clapton

The fear of death follows from the fear of life.  A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. ~ Mark Twain Tweet

Nothing is more intolerable than to have admit to yourself your own errors. ~ Ludwig van Beethoven Tweet

You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather. ~ Pema Chödrön Tweet

Be curious, not judgmental. ~ Walt Whitman Tweet

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

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world: everyone you meet is your mirror. ~ Ken Keyes Tweet

Only when human beings are able to perceive and acknowledge the Self in each other can there be real peace. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. ~ Leonardo da Vinci Tweet

All ideologies are idiotic, whether religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word, which has so unfortunately divided man. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh Tweet

All bad qualities centre round the ego.  When the ego is gone, Realisation results by itself.  There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self.  The Self is free from all qualities.  Qualities pertain to the mind only. ~ Ramana Maharshi

When the mind is full of worldly desires, it is their very nature to confuse the mind.  Withdraw the mind from outer things and turn it inwards. ~ Anandamayi Ma

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. ~ Gautama Buddha

Do not be afraid of your difficulties.  Do not wish you could be in other circumstances than you are.  For when you have made the best of an adversity, it becomes the stepping stone to a splendid opportunity. ~ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. ~ Kahlil Gibran

The more I see, the less I know for sure. ~ John Lennon Tweet

Taliban-esque: Any behavior that imposes the beliefs of one person on everyone else.  Conversations with the Taliban-esque are impossible.  They aren’t even conversations.  With them, it’s my way or no way. ~ Whoopie Goldberg

What the mind doesn’t understand, it worships or fears. ~ Alice Walker Tweet

We always have to choose to live our lives to the fullest.  No one is better or worse than anyone else.  We are different and beautiful. ~ Mattie Stepanek

The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy, we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other.  ~ Meryl Streep

If you want to see God, kill desires.  Desires are in the mind.  When you have a desire for something, don’t act on it and it will go away.  If you desire to drink this cup of tea, don’t, and the desire for it will go away. ~ Neem Karoli Baba

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? ~ Abraham Lincoln Tweet

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. ~ Nikola Tesla Tweet

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. ~ Socrates Tweet

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.  ~ G.I. Gurdjieff

He has the most who is most content with the least. ~ Diogenes Tweet

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. ~ Lao Tzu

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. ~ Jesus of Nazareth Tweet

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. ~  Mahatma Gandhi Tweet

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking. ~ Marcus Aurelius Tweet

If you have any favourite quotes of your own to share, please feel free to include them below!

Old Soul Book

If you feel old in mind and old in heart, you may like to read more about this experience in my book: “Old Souls: The Sages and Mystics of Our World”. It’s available on Amazon, Goodreads and Smashwords.