Whether you’re a beach bum, a mermaid, a surfer, a sailor, or an old salt, these quotes about the ocean will feed your soul.
The ocean moves our souls and gives us respite from the daily grind. Sometimes we go out on the sea for fun, but it is also where we go to think, breathe, and be inspired.
Here are 175 ocean quotes that suit a variety of moods and situations, including everything from captions for Instagram to writing a love letter to go with the perfect beach gift.
Philosophical Ocean Quotes
The big wide open of the great blue yonder makes philosophers out of all of us. The sea can be a place where our minds go deep. These philosophical quotes ponder life and beyond.
- “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “The human desire to obtain more is a sieve that can never be filled with all the water from the world’s oceans.” – Will Bowen
- “The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.” – Vladimir Nabokov
- “It struck me then how much the past - not just the past but history and family - was like the ocean tide. It was always the same ocean, but the waves made it fresh and new each time.” – Aimee Friedman
- “Ocean separates lands, not souls.” – Munia Khan
- "The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats." – Ernest Hemingway
- “You never really know what’s coming. A small wave, or maybe a big one. All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drowning in its monstrosity.”- Alysha Speer
- “Eternity begins and ends with the ocean’s tides.” – Unknown
- “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
- “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” – William James
- “If we look at the ocean in a calm, there is something imposing in its aspect; stretched out in its sleeping tranquility, but looking fearfully deep, and its silence seems like that of the lion when crouching for its prey.” – Jenny M Parker
- “A river starts by longing for the ocean.” – Will Advise
- “At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.” – Robin Lee Graham
Quotes On The Ocean And The Heart
Our hearts pump our lifeblood, which is 90% water. So, it’s no wonder we feel the ocean in our hearts. Here are some quotes that speak to the connection between the sea and the core of our being.
- 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 Goh
- “The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven.” – Martin Luther
- “As the ocean is never full of water, so is the heart never full of love.” – Unknown
- “Your heart is like the ocean, mysterious and dark.” – Bob Dylan
- The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul.” – Robert Wylan
- “On the ocean of life let your mind be the ship and your heart be the compass.” – James David Manning
Ocean Quotes With Life Lessons
The wild blue is vast, giving life and taking it away. But it has lessons for us all. These quotes about the ocean inspire us and motivate us to be better.
- “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
- “Life is a tide float on it. Go down with it and go up with it, but be detached. Then it is not difficult.” – Prem Rawat
- “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” – Rabindranath Tagore
- “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward
- “There’s never an end for the sea.” – Samuel Beckett
- “The universe is an ocean upon which we are the waves. While some decide to surf, others venture to dive.” – Charbel Tadros
- “Life is like the ocean. It can be calm or still, and rough or rigid, but in the end, it is always beautiful.” – Unknown
- “The smallest oceans still make big big waves.” – Eddie Vedder
- “If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salt water mixed with air.” – Navvirah Waheed
- “You see yourself as a shipwreck, but we see your treasure glowing inside, beneath the oceans in your eyes.” – Curtis Tyrone Jones
- “You can either see yourself as a wave in the ocean or you can see yourself as the ocean.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Christopher Columbus
- “Drift beautifully on the surface, and you will die unbeautifully in the depths.” – Richard Ellmann
- “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” – Franklin D Roosevelt
- “How could you reach the pearl by only looking at the sea? If you seek the pearl, be a diver.” – Rumi
Ocean Conservancy Quotes
Conservation is important for our beloved oceans and all that live there. These quotes speak to the urgency of saving our sea for all that dwell and depend on it.
- “If the ocean dies, so do we.” – Margaret Atwood
- “When people who love the ocean come together, they can achieve extraordinary things.” – Frances Beinecke
- “Every drop in the ocean counts.” – Yoko Ono
- “Far and away, the greatest threat to the ocean, and thus to ourselves, is ignorance. But we can do something about that.” – Sylvia Earle
- “By protecting our oceans, we are preserving them for the next generation to enjoy.” – Unknown
- “For each of us, then, the challenge and opportunity is to cherish all life as the gift it is, envision it whole, seek to know it truly, and undertake—with our minds, hearts and hands—to restore its abundance. It is said that where there’s life there’s hope, and so no place can inspire us with more hopefulness than that great, life-making sea—that singular, wondrous ocean covering the blue planet.” – Carl Safina
- “Many of us ask what can I, as one person, do, but history shows us that everything good and bad starts because somebody does something or does not do something.” – Sylvia Earle
- “The sea, the great unifier, is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
- “The ocean’s power of regeneration is remarkable – if we just offer it the chance.” – David Attenborough
- “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
- “Each kiss of an ocean wave is passed along, as long as there is life on and in the seas.” – Anthony T. Hincks
- “I need the sea because it teaches me.” – Pablo Neruda
- “Why is it that scuba divers and surfers are some of the strongest advocates of ocean conservation? Because they've spent time in and around the ocean, and they've personally seen the beauty, the fragility, and even the degradation of our planet's blue heart." – Sylvia Earle
Quotes For Sea Captions
Sometimes we need the ultimate sea quote to pair with our spectacular sea photo. So here are some words that we adored. Who knows, they might be precisely what you were looking for.
- “I wanted freedom, open air, and adventure. I found it on the sea.” – Alain Gebeault
- “The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should like empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- “Storms draw something out of us that calm seas don’t.” – Billy Hybels
- “Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.” – Hermann Broch
- “Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” – Syrus Publilius
- “Take me to the ocean. Let me sail the open sea. To breathe the warm and salty air and dream of things to be.” – Erica Billups
- “The sea is an underwater museum still awaiting its visitors.” Phillip Diole
- "My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me." – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- “The sea will grant each man new hope, and sleep will bring dreams of home...” – Christopher Columbus
Perspective Ocean Quotes
Life can get heavy, causing us to lose perspective. Thankfully, the ocean is there to help us recalibrate. These quotes voice our need to readjust our state of mind.
- “We ourselves feel what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa
- “Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man – who has no gills.” – Ambrose Bierce
- “The ocean makes me feel really small and it makes me put my whole life into perspective.” – Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
- "The ocean is a place of skin, rich outer membranes hiding thick juicy insides, laden with the soup of being." – Vera Nazarian
- “The ocean is a central image. It is the symbolism of a great journey.” – Enya
- “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is clearly Ocean.” – Arthur C. Clarke
- “In this big ball of people, I’m just one grain of sand on this beach.” – Aurora
- “You will love the ocean. It makes you feel so... I don't know. Small, but not in a bad way. Small because you realize you're part of something bigger.” – Lauren Myracle
Ocean Quotes For Lovers
The ocean can cast a spell of romance, especially on a moonlit night. We're far from the only ones who think so, as these quotes prove.
- “In high tide or in low tide, I’ll be by your side.” – Bob Marley
- “I crave a love so deep, the ocean would be jealous.” – Unknown
- “It was as if when I looked into his eyes, I was standing alone on the edge of the world... on a windswept ocean beach. There was nothing but the soft roar of the waves.” – Anne Rice, Interview with a Vampire
- “Seashells are love letters in the sand.” – Unknown
- “I love you more than there are grains of sand on the beach, fish in the sea, waves in the ocean.” – Unknown
- “Do I love you? My god, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.” – William Goldman, The Princess Bride
- “Mightier than the waves at sea is my love for you.” – Unknown
- “Meet me where the sky touches the sea.” – Jennifer Donnelly
- “I love you like the sea loves the shore.“ – Unknown
Literary Ocean Quotes
Writers sculpt our thoughts and emotions with ink. These words linger long after a tale is done, often outliving the author. Here are some favorite ocean quotes from writers we adore.
- “To unpathed waters, undreamed shores.” – William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale
- “It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
- “The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.” – Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
- “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
- “For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it’s always our self we find in the sea.” – e.e cummings
- “I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.” – Anais Nin, The Four-Chambered Heart
- “That selfhood which is our torment, and our treasure, and our humanity, does not endure. It changes; it is gone, a wave on the sea. Would you have the sea grow still and the tides cease, to save one wave, to save yourself?” – Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore
- “Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure.” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick
- “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, To the Lighthouse
- “Words carry oceans on their small backs.” – Lidia Yuknavitch, The Chronology of Water
- “She loves the serene brutality of the ocean, loves the electric power she felt with each breath of wet, briny air.” – Holly Blac, Tithe
- “I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me. Had I considered my prospects in light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten.” – Yann Martel, Life of Pi
Ocean, Sea, And Wave Instagram Captions
Once you’ve snapped that brilliant photo of the ocean, you’ll want the perfect caption to go with it, regardless of whether you are surfing, sailing, or just hanging out at the beach. These are perfect for vacation or Instagram photo captions.
- “The ocean's roar is music to the soul.” – Unknown
- “I’m happiest laying on the sand looking at the sea.” – Unknown
- “Happiness comes in waves.” – Unknown
- “Every day at the ocean is a good day!” – Unknown
- “The ocean is calling.” – Unknown
- “You can find me where the sand meets the water.” – Unknown
- “My dreams are made of sand and sea.” – Unknown
- “We dream in colors borrowed from the sea.” – Unknown
- “Ocean air. Salty hair.” – Unknown
- “The best days are sea days.” – Unknown
- “The ocean made me salty.” – Unknown
- “It’s the sound of the sea that makes you believe in mermaids.” – Unknown
- “The ocean has my heart.” – Unknown
- “Happiness is the sunset and the sea.” – Unknown
- It’s time for the sun, sea, and sand.” – Unknown
Sea Instagram Captions That Are Pun
Being at the seaside with your gullfriends and buoys can be punny. These sofishticated captions are right up there with dad jokes.
- “Seas the day.” – Unknown
- “Keep palm and carry on.” – Unknown
- “Avoid pier pressure” – Unknown
- “Now that I am by the water I can sea clearly.” – Unknown
- “Me and all my beaches.” – Unknown
- “Do you sea what I sea?” – Unknown
- “I was a mermaid for this sea-sun.” – Unknown
- “Don’t get tide down.” – Unknown
- “Life is a beach.” – Lil Wayne
- “Sea you at the beach.” – Unknown
- “Long time no sea.” – Unknown
- “Having a sea-esta.” – Unknown
- “Seek to sea more.” – Unknown
- “All I need is some vitamin sea.” – Unknown
- “If there’s a will, there’s a wave. – Unknown
- “Feeling nauti."– Unknown
- “’Tis the sea-sun to make waves.” – Unknown
- “Seas and greetings.” – Unknown
Melancholy Sea Quotes
The ocean's mood changes with the tides, much like our own. On a grey day, cloaked in mist, the sea can evoke melancholy, even when wrapped up in profound wonder. These quotes speak to the pensive side of our blue planet.
- “The sea is nothing but a library of all the tears in history.” – Lemony Snicket
- “I go to the ocean to say goodbye.” – Charlotte Eriksson
- “Sometimes she wants to drift away like ocean waves and sometimes she wants to stay still like a river, wrapped in solitude.” – Nitya Prakash
- “The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper; I cannot quite make it out.” – Annie Dillard
- “Let the waves carry you where the light can not.” – Mohit Kaushik
- “I have always wanted to give you the world, so I started giving you pieces of the oceans that kept us apart.” – Karen Quan
- “The man who has experienced shipwreck shudders even at a calm sea.” – Ovid
- “Waves tossed themselves against the shore, dragging grit and sand between their nails as they were slowly pulled back out to sea.” – Holly Black
- “I threw bitter tears at the ocean, but all that came back was the tide.” – Sarah McLachlan
- “The ocean is an object of no small terror.” – Edmund Burke
- “The sea is a desert of waves, A wilderness of water.” – Langston Hughes, Selected Poems
Tenacity And Power Ocean Quotes
The pen may well be mightier than the sword, but the ocean will outlast us all. The following words are a testament to the sheer power and tenacity of our mighty seas.
- “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
- “The sea does not like to be restrained.” – Rick Riordan, The Lightening Thief
- “Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.” – Robert Henri
- The ocean has a life of its own. Its tides, whirlpools, currents and eddies are a testament to its conflicting emotions.” – Anthony T. Hincks
- “Water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing, in the end, can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone.” – Margaret Atwood
- “The ocean is a mighty harmonist.” – William Wordsworth
- “I love the ocean. I’ve always liked the blue, so tranquil and peaceful and gliding. And the fear of it.” – Siouxsie Sioux
- “If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn’t worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality. And to me, sailing the open ocean is a real challenge because it’s life or death.” – Morgan Freeman
- “Ocean is more ancient than the mountains and freighted with the memories and dreams of Time.” – H.P. Lovecraft
Quotes Of Our Connection To The Sea
The ocean is part of the great water cycle that flows within us. Thus, our bodies are intimately connected to the sea. These quotes speak to this profound link we have to the fathomless deep.
- “The sea lives in every one of us.” – Robert Whyland
- “A lot of people attack the sea. I make love to it.” – Jacques Cousteau
- “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.” – John F. Kennedy
- “Sand lines my soul which is filled with the breath of the ocean.” – A.D. Posey
- “And when the day arrives I’ll become the sky and I’ll become the sea and the sea will come to kiss me for I am going home. Nothing can stop me now.” – Trent Reznor
- “Clouds must love the ocean, for they keep finding their way back to it.” – Meeta Ahluwalia
- “You’re not a wave, you’re a part of the ocean.” – Mitch Albom
- “To me, the sea is like a person – like a child that I’ve known a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea I talk to it. I never feel alone when I’m out there.” – Gertrude Ederle
- “I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves.” – Le Testament d’Orphée
- “Every time I slip into the ocean, it’s like going home.” – Sylvia Earle
- "The waves of the sea help me get back to me." – Jill Davis
- “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch, we are going back from whence we came.” – John F. Kennedy
Healing Ocean Quotes
Our minds and bodies can become battered and bruised by the stress of daily living. Thankfully the ocean can help us heal, regardless of whether it is our souls or aching joints that need restoration. These quotes give voice to the sea's healing touch.
- “Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.” – Christy Ann Martine
- “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Karen Blixen, writing as Isak Dinesen
- “Saltwater cures all wounds.” – Unknown
- “When anxious, uneasy, and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
- “I couldn’t imagine living in a state that didn’t reach the ocean. It was a giant reset button. You could go to the edge of the land and see infinity and feel renewed.” – Avery Sawyer
- “I go to the ocean to calm down, to reconnect with the creator, to just be happy.” – Nnedi Okorafor
- “The calming movement of the sea along with the restless ocean breeze gently caresses me creating a soothing trance which lulls me to a place of peace.” – M. L. Borges, By the Sea
- “Smell the sea, and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.” – Van Morrison
- "The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace." – Kate Chopin
- “I will find comfort in the rhythm of the sea.” – Charlotte Eriksson
Quotes On The Wonder And Magic Of The Ocean
You don't need to be a child to appreciate the wonder and magic of our oceans. No matter our years on this planet, the seas cast a spell on all of us. These ocean quotes express the sea's enchantment.
- “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau
- “I have always been fascinated by the ocean, to dip a limb beneath its surface and know that I’m touching eternity, that it goes on forever until it begins here again.” – Lauren DeStefano
- “In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.” – Kahlil Gibran
- “The sea is as near as we come to another world.” – Anne Stevenson
- “A pool just isn’t the same as the ocean. It has no energy. No life.” – Linda Gerber
- “The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.” – Christopher Paolini
- “What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.” – Werner Herzog
- “But the sea which no one tends is also a garden.” – William Carlos Williams
- “Waves are the voices of tides. Tides are life. They bring new food for shore creatures and take ships out to sea. They are the ocean’s pulse, and our own heartbeat.” – Tamora Pierce
- “The ocean is full of untamed magic.” – Unknown
- “If you want to hear the distant voice of the ocean put your ear to the lips of a seashell.” – Curtis Tyrone Jones
- “Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.” – Unknown
- “The sea! The sea! The open sea! The blue, the fresh, the ever free!” – Bryan Procter
- “To me, the sea is a continual miracle, the fishes that swim-the rocks-the motion of the waves-the ships with men in them, what stranger miracles are there?” – Walt Whitman
The sea speaks to us through its waves, its tides, its rhythms, its depths and its mysteries. These quotes capture the essence of being at the ocean and its wonder.
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