While many people think sailing is all smooth seas, sunshine, sunsets, and beautiful beaches, it’s also a lot of hard work and can be incredibly challenging. Sometimes we just need a little inspiration or some friendly reminders about why we continue to battle the seasickness and the fear and the storms to reach that personal nirvana and freedom that comes from being one with the sea.
If I included all the quotes from which I’ve found inspiration through the years, the list would stretch across all the world’s oceans. Therefore, I’m only including my 50+ favorites – some of them are personal and from my own sailing adventures and experiences. I realize some of the most popular and classic inspirational sailing quotes are missing from this list, so please leave your favorites in the comments!
Sailing quotes make great metaphors for life.
- Even the popular way of wishing a sailor good luck, “may you have fair winds and following seas” sounds like something we could all want in life.
However, the beauty of many of these sailing quotes, and life itself, is that sometimes we get neither. In those situations, when the wind changes and the sea is rough, it comes down to the skill of the sailor. These unexpected rough waters improve our skills and teach us valuable information.
Our life skills like resiliency, goal setting, and our ability to reflect and adapt can help us weather the storms.
Let these sailing quotes inspire you to spend some time on the ocean, or give you the motivation to discover some uncharted waters in the metaphorical sense!
There are also sailing quotes from song lyrics and some that will make you laugh. If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement.
50+ Sailing Quotes worth Reading
1. “Have an anchor so that life doesn’t toss you around.” ― Debby Ryan
2. “If one doesn’t know to which port one is sailing, no port is favorable.” ― Lucius Annaeus Seneca
3. “‘Tis the set of the sail that decides the goal, and not the storm of life.” ― Ella Wheeler Wilcox
4. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
5. “Sail through the good days, and on bad days pick a spot of blue sky to steer toward.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes
6. “Without goals and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” ― Fitzhugh Dodson
7. “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.” ― Andre Gide
8. “Sometimes there is no time for the sea to calm down! If you have to reach your target, let your voyage start and let the storm be your path!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan
9. “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” ― Hellen Keller
10. “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor.” ― Mark Twain
11. “Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ― Mark Twain
12. “A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind.” — Webb Chiles
13. “The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator.” ― Edmund Gibbon
14. “On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open, and the world is full of beauty.” — Rumi
15. “Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.” ― Augustus Hare
16. “The only ship you can truly steer in this ocean is the one you’re sailing. Quit trying to alter the winds; harness them.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich, ‘Making Wishes’
17. “We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.” ― Aristotle Onassis
18. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” ― Jimmy Dean
19. “It’s remarkable how quickly a good and favorable wind can sweep away the maddening frustrations of shore living.” — Ernest K. Gann
20. “To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes
Read 100+ Sea lover Quotes for People who love Sea
Sailing quotes Selected from Song lyrics
21. “Just sailing, just sailing. I’m growing stronger every day.” — Richard Orlinski, On My Way
22. “Sailing away today, I’ll sail today. Should I come back to stay.” — Peter Frampton, Sail Away
23. “Big ship sailing on the ocean. We don’t need no commotion.” — Roots Radics, Big Ship
24. “I’m sailing. Never coming back threw my dreams in the trash and that’s that.” — Caleb Johnson, Sailing Away
25. “My lover stands on golden sands. And watches the ships that go sailing.” — Robbie Williams, La Mer (Beyond the Sea)
26. “We be sailing at first light, come gather. Set our course for the crossing together.” — John Fogerty, River is Waiting
27. “Your love is like sailing away to a distant ocean. ‘Cause all I need in my life is your love and devotion.” — U.R.R., Sailing
28. “And we’re just kids we’re just sailing. Spirits never failing, expectations nailing. When we were younger all our days were smooth sailing.” — KLB, Smooth Sailing
29. “Now I’m smooth sailing. Oceans clear and blue. Now I’m smooth sailing. Sailing away from you.” — Elizabeth Gerardi, Smooth Sailing
30. Now he’s sailing in the sky, beyond the clouds. Oh so high. Yes, he’s sailing, sailing in the sky. Wish I would have had a chance to say goodbye.” — Yurgen, Sailing in the Sky
31. “Our country is in mourning, for a sailor died today.” — A. Lawrence Vaincourt
32. “So welcome, Old Sailor. Now the tide’s on the ebb. And it’s an honor to have you aboard.” — Richard John Scarr
33. “How still, How strangely still The water is today, It is not good For water To be so still that way.” — Langston Hughes
34. “When I put out to sea, but such a tide as moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam.
35. When that which drew from out the boundless deep turns again home.” — Lord Tennyson
36. “There’s a wondrous Golden Harbour, far beyond the setting sun. Where a gallant ship may anchor when her fighting days are done.” — Captain Ronald A. Hopwood
37. “All I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, and the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.” — John Masefield
Read Deep Quotes about Life – For Deep Thinkers
38. “The full sea rolls and thunders in glory and in glee. O, bury me not in the senseless earth but in the living sea!” — William Ernest Henley
39. “The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, from fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won.” — Walt Whitman
40. “With close eyes I clear my mind. Alone I sit by the seashore. The fragrant salt in the wind I inhale as it gently blows ashore.” — William Bonilla
41. “And the stately ships go on to their haven under the hill: But O for the touch of a vanish’d hand, and the sound of a voice that is still!” — Lord Tennyson
Funny and witty sailing quotes Collection ⚓
42. “It is not that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better.” — Sir Francis Drake
43. “At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.” — Robin Lee Graham
44. “There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.” — Joseph Conrad
45. “Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.” — Charles Davis
46. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” ― William Arthur Ward
47. “Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a really good sailor to do it drunk.”
48. “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Give him a fishing lesson and he’ll sit in a boat drinking beer every weekend.” — Alex Blackwell
49. “Only two sailors, in my experience, never ran aground. One never left port and the other was an atrocious liar.” — Don Bamford
50. “Sailing—The fine art of slowly going nowhere at great expense while being cold, wet and miserable.” — Irv Heller
51. “Flying might not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price.” — Amelia Earhart
52. “All I ask is a tall ship and a star to sail her by.” — John Masefield
53. “I love sailing. I like it more when I am winning.” — Larry Ellison
54. “The key to all strange things is in thy heart…./ My spirit has come home, that sailed the doubtful seas.” — Countee Cullen
55. “I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.” — Alain Gerbault
56. “I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.” — Arthur Ashe
57. “One cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow.” — Richard Francis Burton
58. “Sailing, the most expensive way to travel 3rd class.” — Buzzy Trent
59. “It is a ship with a great deal of sail but a very shallow keel.” — Robert Bork
60. “The effect of sailing is produced by a judicious arrangement of the sails to the direction of the wind.” — William Falconer
Read 20 Famous Seashore Quotes Sayings For Deep Thinkers
61. Sailors, with their built-in sense of order, service, and discipline, should really be running the world. – Nicholas Monsarrat
62. The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator. – Edmund Gibbon
63. The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. – William Arthur Ward
64. You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Christopher Columbus
65. He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast. – Leonardo da Vinci
66. He is the best sailor who can steer within fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power out of the greatest obstacles. – Walter Scott
67. I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky. And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. – John Masefield
68. That’s what a ship is, you know – it’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs. But what a ship is, really is, is freedom. – Capt. Jack Sparrow
69. A tourist remains an outsider throughout his visit, but a sailor is part of the local scene from the moment he arrives. – Anne Davison
70. The perfection of a yacht’s beauty is that nothing should be there for only beauty’s sake. – John MacGregor
71. A sailing vessel is alive in a way that no ship with mechanical power ever be. – Aubrey de Selincourt
72. Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, for somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid. – Robert N. Rose
73. He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea. – Thomas Fuller
74. Until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore, you will not know the terror of being forever lost at sea. – Charles Cook
75. We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds. – Aristotle Onassis, Shipping Magnate
76. The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator. – Edmund Gibbon, Historian
77. I wanted freedom, open-air, and adventure. I found it on the sea. – Alaine Gerbault, Sailor
78. It is not the ship so much as the skilful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage. – George William Curtis
79. A ship on the port always waits for you to sail to the oceans! – Mehmet Murat ildan
80. The only ship you can truly steer in this ocean is the one you’re sailing. Quit trying to alter the winds; harness them. – Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes
81. That’s what sailing is, a dance, and your partner is the sea. And with the sea you never take liberties. You ask her, you don’t tell her. You have to remember always that she’s the leader, not you. You and your boat are dancing to her tune. – Michael Morpurgo, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
82. The sea hates a coward. – Eugene O’Neill
83. I was born in the breezes, and I had studied the sea as perhaps few men have studied it, neglecting all else. – Joshua Slocum
84. If my ship sails from sight, it doesn’t mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends. – Enoch Powell
85. I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full. – Arthur Ashe
86. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. – Kenneth Grahame
87. I was born in the breezes, and I had studied the sea as perhaps few men have studied it, neglecting all else. – Joshua Slocum
The sad depth of some of these sailing quotes
Sadly, sailing can also be used to metaphorically depict sadness. In these poems, you can almost see the ships sailing away from the shore of life and heading toward the distant, unknown harbor.
In some of the other poems, the sea is grey and sad—misty and hidden depicting A tradition of sailors is the burial at sea. What do you think about sailing, and having the sea wind blow through your hair?