River Quotes That Apply to Life and Going With The Flow
February 3, 2023 5:00 AM EST
These river quotes about life and love illustrate just how alike our lives and the river can be!
A river has often been used as a metaphor for life.
In fact, some believe comparing a river to life is the best metaphor there is!
Just how does a river compare to life though?
Well, rivers start off slowly, usually picking up speed and power as they crash over rocks or rush downhill.
People also start out not even being able to move on their own, but eventually, we get bigger and more capable.
We get better at encountering challenges, like rocks or hills in our path.
If we are lucky, those obstacles strengthen us.
Life and the river are also alike in the sense that things work best when we go with the flow! The river really has no choice and just flows.
Granted, there are things along the river that might slow it down, cause it to rush ahead, or change its direction, but very little can stop it from flowing.
We can be like the river and learn to adjust and adapt, changing course when necessary, but always flowing.
These beautiful river quotes about the flow will show you what I mean!
Don’t forget to also check out these ocean quotes that inspire beauty and depth.
If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement.
Read more related content on our inspirational quotes category page.
Famous river quotes and sayings about the flow of the river
1. “I’m really quite simple. I plant flowers and watch them grow… I stay at home and watch the river flow.” — George Harrison
![Famous river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-1.png)
You will also enjoy our article on Kahlil Gibran quotes.
2. “Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt.” — Minna Antrim
![Famous river quotes and sayings about the flow of the river](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-2.png)
3. “The blues is a mighty long road. Or it could be a river, one that twists and turns and flows into a sea of limitless musical potential.” — Billy Gibbons
![river quotes from Billy Gibbons](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-3.png)
You will also enjoy our article on swimming quotes.
4. “The river flows at its own sweet will, but the flood is bound in the two banks. If it were not thus bound, its freedom would be wasted.” — Vinoba Bhave
![river quotes on the river fflows at it's own sweet will](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-4.png)
5. “A dream is like a river ever-changing as it flows and a dreamer’s just a vessel that must follow where it goes.” — Garth Brooks
![dream river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-5.png)
6. “I had no plans of any destination. I wish to flow like a river.” — Lailah Gifty Akita
![river quotes about plans of any destination](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-6.png)
7. “Be like a river. Be open. Flow.” — Julie Connor
![river quotes about be like a river be open](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-7.png)
8. “I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” — John O’Donohue
![river quotes to live like a river flows](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-8.png)
9. “River is time in water; as it came, still, so it flows, yet never is the same.” — Barten Holyday
![river quotes about river is time in water](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-9.png)
10. “Rivers flow not past, but through us; tingling, vibrating, exciting every cell and fiber in our bodies, making them sing and glide.” — John Muir
![Inspirational river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-10.png)
You will also enjoy our article on water quotes.
Beautiful river quotes about love and life
11. “I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you till China and Africa meet and the river jumps over the mountain and the salmon sing in the street.” — W. H. Auden
![Beafutiful river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-11.png)
12. “Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle.” — Crystal Middlemas
![Beautiful river quotes about love and life](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-12.png)
13. “Love is the river of life in the world.” — Henry Ward Beecher
![river quotes about love](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-13.png)
14. “For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.” — Kahlil Gibran
![river quotes for life and death](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-14.png)
15. “Life is like the river, sometimes it sweeps you gently along and sometimes the rapids come out of nowhere.” — Emma Smith
![river quotes about life is like the river](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-15.png)
16. “A river is water in its loveliest form, rivers have life and sound and movement and infinity of variation, rivers are veins of the earth through which the lifeblood returns to the heart.” — Roderick Haig-Brown
![river quotes about the heart](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-16.png)
17. “A river doesn’t just carry water, it carries life.” — Amit Kalantri
![river quotes about a river doesn't just carry water, it carries life](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-17.png)
18. “A good river is nature’s life work in song.” — Mark Helprin
![river quotes about a good river is nature's life work in song](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-18.png)
19. “The river waters quench the thirst of all living beings.” — Ram Nath Kovind
![wise river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-19.png)
20. “Those who stand at the threshold of life always waiting for the right time to change are like the man who stands at the bank of a river waiting for the water to pass so he can cross on dry land.” — Joseph B. Wirthlin
![more river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-20.png)
21. “We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.” — David Brower
![other river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-21.png)
22. “Life is like a river. It will either drag you with its flow, or you can learn to surf. Choice is yours.” — Nitin Kishore Rawat
![river quotes on life is like a river](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-22.png)
Inspirational and wise river quotes to live by
23. “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” — Heraclitus
![Inspirational and wise river quotes](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-23.png)
24. “You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.” — Paulo Coelho
![Inspirational and wise river quotes to live by](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-24.png)
25. “If my ship sails from sight, it doesn’t mean my journey ends. It simply means the river bends.” — Enoch Powell
![wise river quotes to live by](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-25.png)
26. “Never insult an alligator until after you have crossed the river.” — Cordell Hull
![river quotes for Instagram](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-26.png)
27. “The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” — Ross Perot
![river quotes about the activist is not the man who says the river is diirty](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-27.png)
28. “You can’t be unhappy in the middle of a big, beautiful river.” — Jim Harrison
![river quotes on happiness](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-28.png)
29. “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” — Jim Watkins
![river quotes about it's power](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-29.png)
30. “The river moves, but it follows a path. When it tires of one journey, it rubs through some rock to forge a new way. Hard work, but that’s its nature.” — Kekla Magoon
![river quotes on the river moves](https://everydaypower.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/river-quotes-30.png)
31. “The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it’s going to go and where you’ll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track. Don’t let anyone deter you from that.” — Eartha Kitt
32. “We steer the boat, we don’t alter the river.” — J. Earp
33. “A river has many curves, but it always reaches the ocean.” — Donald L. Hicks
Poetic river quotes that are simply moving and beautiful
34. “Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea.” — Mikhail Lermontov
35. “True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.” — Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
36. “A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself.” — Laura Gilpin
37. “If the earth is a mother, then rivers are her veins.” — Amit Kalantri
38. “To put your hands in a river is to feel the chords that bind the earth together.” — Barry Lopez
39. “He who does not know his way to the sea should take a river for his guide.” — Blaise Pascal
40. “The river has great wisdom and whispers its secrets to the hearts of men.” — Mark Twain
41. “Who hears the rippling of rivers will not utterly despair of anything.” — Henry David Thoreau
42. “Just as a drop of water in the ocean cannot avail much; but if a great river runneth into it, that maketh a great commotion.” — Jakob Bohme
River quotes on life lessons
43. “What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn’t have any doubt – it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn’t want to go anywhere else.” — Hal Boyle
44. “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” — Mark Twain
45. “Beside the river there are two things you never forget, that the moment you look at a river that moment has already passed, and that everything is on its way somewhere else.” — Niall Williams
46. “Rivers are places that renew our spirit, connect us with our past, and link us directly with the flow and rhythm of the natural world.” — Ted Turner
47. “I was still water, held by my surroundings. I am now a river, carving my own path.” — Scott Stabile
48. “The river asked me who I was to be gazing so longingly into her curving body of cascading dreams and shifting beauty.” — Todd Crawshaw
49. “The sun shines not on us but in us. The Rivers flow not past, but through us.” — John Muir
50. “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” — A. A. Milne
More meaningful river quotes
51. “May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke
52. “Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.” ― Hermann Hesse
53. “There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.” ― Dejan Stojanovic
54. “I like geography best, he said, because your mountains & rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.” ― Brian Andreas
55. “On and on they flew, over the countryside parceled out in patches of green and brown, over roads and rivers winding through the landscapes like strips of matte and glossy ribbon.” ― J.K. Rowling
56. “They can stop a river by building a dam, but I will be damned if they can stop my river of blood flowing through my veins and heart.” ― Anthony Liccione
57. “But just as the river is always at the door, so is the world always outside. And it is in the world that we have to live.” ― Lian Hearn
58. “Spring buds burst to bloom, and the river carries their song of life.” ― Jayita Bhattacharjee
59. “The beauty of a river is best measured by the cleanliness of its water; the beauty of a person, by the cleanliness of his character!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
60. “Like the river, keep on flowing.” ― Avijeet Das
Other insightful river quotes
61. “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ― Rumi
62. “A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretence and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself.” ― Maya Angelou
63. “It is from small streams that big rivers rise.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo
64. “A winter message from the river: Never surrender! Life can try to stop you, but somehow find a way to flow!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
65. “The river embraces me and guides me to swim inside her and to drink the nectar of love from her bosom. She tells me her secrets and I tell her mine.” ― Avijeet Das
66. “A river will find its path to the ocean, be positive and be focused” ― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar
67. “Do not despise the water droplets that you receive. Soon, they will be a river.” ― Bruce Mbanzabugabo
68. “Patience is the river that finds its way to the sea, by flowing through many confluences.” ― Mladen Đorđević
69. “Witnessing is not flowing with the current of the river but observing the flow from the bank of the river.” ― Amit Ray
70. “The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it’s going to go and where you’ll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track. Don’t let anyone deter you from that.” ― Eartha Kitt
Inspirational River Quotes To Help You Overcome Obstacles
71. “Every time we see a river flowing forward with courage, deep in our hearts we know that we must do the same!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
72. “Rivers don’t drink their own waters; trees don’t eat their own fruits. The salt seasons the soup in order to have its purpose fulfilled. Live for others!” ― Israelmore Ayivor
73. “I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins.” ― Khaled Hosseini
74. “A field which feeds you, a river which gives you water are much holier than all other so-called holy places!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
75. “Hope is a continuous flowing river.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita
76. “With heavy rainfall, the river will overflow its banks. This is the spirit of gratitude; the more grateful you are, the more your life overflows with abundance.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita
77. “The river of knowledge has no depth.” ― Chinonye J. Chidolue
78. “The flowing river nonchalantly reminds us of life: flowing relentlessly; flowing purposelessly. Life without purpose.” ― Girdhar Joshi
79. “When the river meets the sea, he dies! Because the character of the river is to flow and when the character dies, everything dies!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
80. “Every man has a river on his mind: The River of Thoughts! But not every man has a holy river on his mind: The River of Right Thoughts!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
River Quotes to Help You Navigate Through Life’s Journey
81. “It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went.” ― Henry David Thoreau
82. “I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” ― Langston Hughes
83. “You cannot step twice into the same river.” ― Heraclitus
84. “It’s organic. It’s like a river. One stream comes in and it meets another stream and becomes the Amazon.” ― Sam Pressman
85. “Mountains and rivers at this very moment are the actualization of the world of the ancient Buddhas. Each, abiding in its phenomenal expression, realizes completeness.” ― Dogen
86. “All rivers, even the most dazzling, those that catch the sun in their course, all rivers go down to the ocean and drown. And life awaits man as the sea awaits the river.” ― Simone Schwarz-Bart
87. “All through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep I could hear the steady roar of the passing army.” ― Richard Harding Davis
88. “So our lives glide on: the river ends we don’t know where, and the sea begins, and then there is no more jumping ashore.” ― George Eliot
89. “Insanity makes the rivers flow.” ― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
90. “Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do – they all contain truths.” ― Muhammad Ali
What did you learn from these River quotes?
Rivers are more than just a metaphor for life, they are essential in their own right.
Why are rivers so important?
A river carries water and nutrients to other bodies of water, all of which are connected around the earth.
They also provide a habitat and food source for many animals and organisms.
The role of a river in the water cycle is to act as a drainage channel for surface water, which covers about 75% of the earth’s land.
Rivers are also an important component of travel routes.
These routes are used for tourism, exploration, commerce, and recreational purposes.
Rivers help keep the food supply up because they keep the soil fertile for farmers.
Rivers are also vital for providing energy thanks to water turbines and hydroelectric plants.
Rivers can also just be a lot of fun too!
On a hot summer’s day, a river is also the perfect place to get away for a nice cool float.
Or if you are more of an adventure seeker, you can go whitewater rafting.
Which of these river quotes and sayings is your favorite?
Let us know in the comment section below.