Spanish quotes are a gateway to seeing the world from the perspective of Spanish-speaking people and cultures.
Discovering how people in different parts of the world view specific topics we casually talk about in our mother tongues—like life, death and romance—can help give you a refreshed worldview.
In this post, you’ll find 35 of the most thought-provoking and moving Spanish quotes about life, love and everything in between.
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Spanish Quotes About Life
1. “Algún día en cualquier parte, en cualquier lugar indefectiblemente te encontrarás a ti mismo, y ésa, sólo ésa, puede ser la más feliz o la más amarga de tus horas.” — Pablo Neruda
English translation: Someday, somewhere, in some place you will inevitably run into your own self, and that, only that, can be the happiest or the bitterest of your moments.
2. “La vida es una serie de colisiones con el futuro; no es una suma de lo que hemos sido, sino de lo que anhelamos ser.” – José Ortega y Gasset
English translation: Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not a sum of what we have been, but of what we hope to be.
3. “Aprendí que si no puedes ser feliz con pocas cosas, no vas a ser feliz con muchas cosas.” – José “Pepe” Mujica
English translation: I learned that if you can’t be happy with a little, you won’t be happy with a lot.
4. “Como no me he preocupado de nacer, no me preocupo de morir.” — Federico García Lorca
English translation: Just as I didn’t worry about being born, I’m not worried about dying.
Just like being born is part of life, so is death. Why would we be about the last if we weren’t about the first?
5. “Errar es humano, pero más lo es culpar de ello a otros.” – Baltazar Gracián
English translation: To err is human, but even more so is to blame others for it.
This quote demonstrates his insight into human nature—the impulse to blame others for our mistakes.
6. “A los tontos no les dura el dinero.” — Unknown
English translation: A fool and his money are soon parted.
This Spanish quote reminds us to be good stewards of our money and spend it wisely, and people who burn holes through their pockets are foolish.
7. “A beber y a tragar, que el mundo se va a acabar.” — Unknown
English translation: Drink and swallow, the world is going to end.
This saying is a reminder to enjoy life in the present because no one lives forever.
8. “No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy.” — Unknown
English translation: Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
This quote is about productivity, using your time wisely, and a reminder that procrastination will only lead to stress!
Inspirational Spanish Quotes
9. “Enamórate de ti, de la vida y luego de quien tú quieras.” – Frida Kahlo
English translation: Fall in love with yourself, with life and then with whoever you want.
If you don’t love yourself and your life, you’ll never find fulfillment in trying to love someone else.
10. “Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.” — Antonio Machado
English translation: Walker, there is no path, you make it as you walk.
This quote means we have to make way on our own for the life we want to live.
11. “Para hacer realidad un gran sueño, el primer requisito es una gran capacidad de soñar; el segundo es la persistencia.” – César Chávez
English translation: To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is a great capacity to dream. The second is persistence.
You can’t achieve big things without believing you can first. And you can’t persevere if you doubt yourself.
12. “Quien ha visto la esperanza, no la olvida. La busca bajo todos los cielos y entre todos los hombres.” — Octavio Paz.
English translation: He who has seen hope does not forget it. He looks for it under every sky and among all men.
13. “El que quiere interesar a los demás tiene que provocarlos.” — Salvador Dali
English translation: He who wants to interest others must provoke them.
No one became famous or remembered by doing things the traditional way and playing it safe.
14. “La verdad adelgaza, pero no quiebra, y siempre anda sobre la mentira como el aceite sobre el agua.” – Miguel de Cervantes
English translation: The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always rises above lies like oil floats on water.
15. “El hombre que se levanta es aún más grande que el que no ha caído.” — Concepción Arenal
English translation: The man who stands up is greater than the one who hasn’t fallen.
People who fail but keep trying again are already more successful than those who never try.
16. “No llores porque se terminó, sonríe porque sucedió.” — Gabriel García Márquez
English translation: Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
We can choose to be sad that something is over, or we can be happy and grateful for the experience.
Thought-provoking Spanish Quotes
17. “La incertidumbre es una margarita cuyos pétalos no se terminan jamás de deshojar.” — Mario Vargas Llosa
English translation: Uncertainty is a daisy whose petals you will never finish pulling off.
This quote means that doubting will never lead to good, and there will always be something to doubt.
18. “Es feliz el que soñando, muere. Desgraciado el que muera sin soñar.” — Rosalía De Castro
English translation: He is happy, the one who dies while dreaming. Disgraced is the one who dies without dreams.
Dream big and live so that you have no regrets at the end of your life.
19. “El mundo hay que fabricárselo uno mismo, hay que crear peldaños que te suban, que te saquen del pozo. Hay que inventar la vida porque acaba siendo verdad.” — Ana María Matute
English translation: You have to build the world around you, yourself: you have to create the steps that will take you up, and help you out of the well. You have to invent life, because in the end it will eventually be real.
20. “Hay que sentir el pensamiento y pensar el sentimiento.” — Miguel de Unamuno
English translation: You must feel your thought and think your feeling.
Carefully consider your own position and follow your true inner morality wherever it may take you.
21. “Aprender a dudar es aprender a pensar.” — Octavio Paz
English translation: Learning to doubt is learning to think.
Another quote from Octavio Paz, this quote tells us that doubting isn’t always bad. If you never doubt anything, are you really thinking for yourself?
22. “Nunca tendré compasión por los que no supieron morir a tiempo.” — Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid Campeador)
English translation: I will never have sympathy for those who do not die on time.
Morir a tiempo means “to die when you’re supposed to,” and in this case, “standing up for what you believe in.”
23. “La vida es simple, pero insistimos en hacerla complicada.” — Confucius
English translation: Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
Slow down and take a deep breath—hardly anything is as severe as we think.
24. “La lengua no tiene hueso, pero corta lo más grueso.” — Unknown
English translation: The tongue doesn’t have a bone, but it cuts the thickest.
Words are extremely powerful, and what you say can cut deeper than any physical weapon, punch or blow.
Spanish Quotes About Relationships
25. “Enamorarse es crear una religión cuyo Dios es falible.” — Jorge Luis Borges
English translation: Falling in love is creating a religion whose God is fallible.
If we put all our hope in one person, we’re guaranteed to be let down because no one is perfect.
26. “Como si se pudiese elegir en el amor, como si no fuera un rayo que te parte los huesos.” – Julio Cortázar
English translation: As if you could choose love, as if it weren’t like a lightning bolt that breaks your bones.
27. “La muerte no existe, la gente sólo muere cuando la olvidan; si puedes recordarme siempre estaré contigo.” — Isabel Allende
English translation: Death does not exist, people only die when they are forgotten; if you can remember me I will always be with you.
28. “Lo que me gusta de tu cuerpo es el sexo. Lo que me gusta de tu sexo es la boca. Lo que me gusta de tu boca es la lengua. Lo que me gusta de tu lengua es la palabra.” — Julio Cortázar
English translation: “What I like about your body is its sexiness. What I like about your sexiness is your mouth. What I like about your mouth is your tongue. What I like about your tongue is the word.”
29. “Un hombre solo tiene derecho de mirar a otro hacia abajo cuando tiene que ayudarlo a levantarse.” — Gabriel García Márquez
English translation: A man only has the right to look down on another when he has to help them up.
Be careful when critiquing others, especially if you make the same mistakes or aren’t any better.
30. “Tal vez sea verdad: que un corazón es lo que mueve el mundo.” — Dámaso Alonso
English translation: Perhaps it is true: it is a heart which moves the world.
Meaningful world change starts with the right intentions and a big heart.
31. “No importa que nos separe la distancia, siempre habrá un mismo cielo que nos una.” — Unknown
English translation: It doesn’t matter that we’re separated by distance, there will always be the same sky to unite us.
Everyone is connected because we share the sky no matter where we live or what time it is.
32. “Amar no es mirarse el uno al otro, es mirar juntos en la misma dirección.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
English translation: Love is not to look at each other, it’s to look together towards the same direction.
The partner we’ll love forever is someone we can journey through life with.
Spanish Quotes About History
33. “A lo largo de la historia, la democracia y la felicidad no han producido nunca gran literatura.” — Mario Vargas Llosa
English translation: Throughout history, democracy and happiness have never produced great literature.
Famous literary works are great because they come out of politically troubled environments, not despite it.
34. “La guerra es la obra de arte de los militares, la coronación de su formación, el broche dorado de su profesión. No han sido creados para brillar en la Paz.” — Isabel Allende
English translation: War is soldiers’ work of art, the crowning glory of their training, the gilded jewel of their profession. They were not born to shine in peace.
35. “La historia nunca dice ‘Adiós’. Lo que dice siempre es un ‘Hasta luego’.” — Eduardo Galeano
English translation: History never says “Farewell.” What it always says is “See you later.”
This quote essentially says the same thing as “history repeats itself,” but with clever wordplay.
These 35 Spanish quotes are more than inspirational—they have the power to teach us meaningful lessons about life.
You can even find hundreds more by paying attention to Spanish media, from telenovelas to novels. Another good place to continue your Spanish quote explorations is FluentU—the language learning program lets you watch authentic Spanish videos with interactive subtitles, so you’ll have an easier time spotting idioms, quotes and colloquial expressions.
Just remember, it’s one thing to know Spanish quotes—now it’s time to live them!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
