40 Ocean Quotes for People Who Love the Sea
Quotes may be cliche but they serve a wonderful purpose to inspire us all within a few words. Ocean quotes continuously keep us dreaming of the sea, cruising and sailing when we're ashore or when we have the time to leave the sandy coastlines of the earth to explore what is beyond.
Humans have always felt a natural draw to the sea – and some of these ocean quotes will make a strong connection to why while others fatefully allude to it.
Whether you're working and need a pick-me-up to take a day-dream escape and you're packing for your first river cruise, these ocean quotes will provide encouragement to take to the sea. And of course, like all quotes, these ocean quotes could be a metaphor for whatever you need encouragement for in life today or tomorrow!
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Ocean Quotes
“You will never experience the earth with all its wonders in this time again. Don't wait for one last look at the ocean, the sky, the stars, or a loved one. Go look now.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler
“Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.” – Christy Ann Martine
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away.” – Sarah Kay
“There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.” – Dave Barry
“I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves.” – Le Testament d'Orphée
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it’s always our self we find in the sea.” – E.E. Cummings
“I will find comfort in the rhythm of the sea.” – Charlotte Eriksson
“The sea is as near as we come to another world.” – Anne Stevenson
“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.” – Robert Wylan
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
“Even the upper end of the river believes in the ocean.” – William Stafford
“The sea is a desert of waves, a wilderness of water.” – Langston Hughes
“Every time I slip into the ocean, it’s like going home.” – Sylvia Earle (for whom Aurora Expeditions' ship, Sylvia Earle, is named after.)
Love the ocean and maybe even cruising? Check out 11 ways to surprise someone with a cruise!
Beach Quotes
“So that the monotonous fall of the waves on the beach, which for the most part beat a measured and soothing tattoo to her thoughts, seemed consolingly to repeat over and over again.” – Virginia Woolf
“Seashells are love letters in the sand.” – Unknown
“The sand may be rinsed from my feet but in my heart I am always at the beach.” – Karianne Burke
If you love the ocean and the beach, be sure to check out unique ocean art for your home so you will always be near the sea!
“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.” – Unknown
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are sandy.” – adapted from a John Muir quote, where he says, “dirt” instead of “sand.”
“If there is a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached to it.” – Jimmy Buffett (the name behind Margaritaville at Sea!)
“At the beach, life is different. Time doesn’t move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun.” – Sandy Gingras
Inspirational Nautical Quotes
“You can stop the waves but you can learn to surf.” – John Kabat-Zan
“If your ship doesn't come in…swim out to it” – Jonathan Winters
“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.” – John F Kennedy
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” – Rumi
“A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd
“A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind.” – Webb Chiles
“She beats to the beauty of her wildflower heart and seashore soul.” – Angie Welland-Crosby
“Let the waves carry you where the ocean can not.” – Mohit Kaushik
“If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both saltwater mixed with air.” – Nayyirah Waheed
“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen
“Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world.” – The Beach Boys
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” – William Faulkner
Ocean-Inspired Love and Relationship Quotes
“He was all of the ocean and she was drowning in a single drop.” – Louise Alexandra Erskine
“Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky.” – Sonia Gahndi
“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too” – Vincent van Gogh
“A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets.” Gloria Stuart
“She is a mermaid, but approach her with caution. Her mind swims at a depth most would drown in.” – J. Iron Word
“A kiss on the beach when there is a full moon is the closest thing to heaven.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Also check out the following ocean and river vacation ideas:
- River Cruise vs Ocean Cruise: What’s the Difference?
- 5 Reasons to Book United States River Cruises
- First Time Snorkeling Tips for Non Swimmers
