64 Sea Quotes to Invoke Depth and Exploration

Human beings have always been drawn to the sea.

These sea quotes capture the essence of its waves, depth, and life and bring them to you so that the sea may touch you, even if you’re far from it.

The sea is a deep, mysterious thing full of more life than we know, and the human connection to the sea goes back thousands of years.

What can we learn from the sea?

The ocean can teach us many things, but most importantly, we can learn depth and insight from its deep color and mysterious life and draw toward exploration.

These sea quotes will bring you there—let’s set sail.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Check out more inspirational quotes on our motivational quotes category page.

Sea Quotes About Exploration

1. “The ocean is this beautiful unexplored place. Why on Earth everyone isn’t down there, I don’t know.” – Graham Hawkes

You will also enjoy our article on Kahlil Gibran quotes.

2. “To find the pearls in life’s ocean, you have to venture out far past the shore.” – Unknown

3. “The ocean is a central image. It is the symbolism of a great journey.” –Enya

4. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide

5. “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” –Rabindranath Tagore

6. “Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” – Unknown

7. “As a species, we’ve always been discoverers and adventurers, and space and deep ocean are some of the last frontiers.” – Unknown

8. “My soul is full of longing for the secrets of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

9. “There was magic about the sea. People were drawn to it. People wanted to love by it, swim in it, play in it, look at it.” – Cecelia Ahern

10. “My soul is longing for the secrets of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You may also like these ocean quotes that inspire beauty and depth.

Sea Quotes About Connecting to the Ocean

11. “The beauty and mystery of the ocean fills our lives with wonders, vast beyond our imagination.” – ML Borges

12. “As the ocean is never full of water, so is the heart never full of love.” –Unknown

13. “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

14. “Our memories of the ocean will linger on long after our footprints in the sand are gone.” – Unknown

15. “I go to the ocean to calm down, to reconnect with the creator, to just be happy.” – Nnedi Okorafor

16. “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

17. “Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook.” –William Arthur Ward

18. “But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of the ocean.” – HP Lovecraft

19. “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” –Jacques Yves Cousteau

20. “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

21. “With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live.” – Sylvia Earle

22. “The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides.” – Jules Verne

23. “To me, the sea is like a person—like a child 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 like alone when I’m out there.” – Gertrude Ederle

Also check out these motivational wallpaper quotes to inspire your life.

Sea Quotes About the Power of Nature

24. “The sea is a field full of miracles where it shows nature’s resilience against destruction.” – The Grumpy Guru

25. “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.” – ML Borges

26. “Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of time.” – HP Lovecraft

27. “There must be something strangely sacred in salt. It is in our tears and in the sea.” – Kahlil Gibran

28. “There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught.” – Irish Proverb

29. “Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore.” – Lord Byron

30. “Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous, that ocean is not silent.” – Unknown

31. “Ocean: a body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man—who has no gills.” – Ambrose Bierce

32. “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.” – Arthur C Clarke

33. “The sea does not like to be restrained.” – Rick Riordan

34. “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 Witman

35. “In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.” – Kahlil Gibran

36. “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

37. “A pool just isn’t the same as the ocean. It has no energy. No life.” – Linda Gerber

You might also like these waves quotes for surfers & beach lovers.

Sea Quotes About the Waves of Life

38. “You can either see yourself as a wave in the ocean or you can see yourself as the ocean.” – Oprah Winfrey

39. “Life is like the ocean, it goes up and down.” – Vanessa Paradis

40. “Every drop in the ocean counts.” – Yoko Ono

41. “No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.” – Charles Kettering

42. “Eternity begins and ends with the ocean’s tides.” – Unknown

43. “You have to think of your career the way you look at the ocean, deciding which wave you’re gonna take and which waves you’re not gonna take. Some of the waves are going to be big, some are gonna be small, sometimes the sea is going to be calm. Your career is not going to be one steady march up to glory.” – Alan Arkin

44. “Life is an ocean, fathom it.” – MK Soni

45. “Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean.” – Christopher Reeve

46. “When the seas are rough and disturbing, and the rowing seems always upstream, with a world of indifference to curb you, there’s always a hope and a dream.” – Greta Zwaan

47. “The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error.” – Voltaire

48. “Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never life my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.” – Albert Schweitzer

49. “If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim. And I’d despise the one who gave up.” – Unknown

50. “Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.” – Werner Herzog

51. “We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” – William James

Don’t forget to also check out these water quotes to help you move forward.

52. The sea is a desert of waves, A wilderness of water.” – Langston Hughes

53. “Only the ocean kept the same rhythm. Crashing in and slowly pulling back out, it never lied, never changed. It tried to teach them a life of romantic consistency.” – Lawren Leo

54. “I preferred to look at the sea, which said nothing and never made you feel alone.” – Paula McLain

Breathtaking Sea Quotes

55. “The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.” — Vladimir Nabokov

56. “Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

57. “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” — Franklin D Roosevelt

58. “At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much.” — Robin Lee Graham

59. “Each kiss of an ocean wave is passed along, as long as there is life on and in the seas.” — Anthony T. Hincks

60. “The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven.” — Martin Luther

61. “The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats.” — Ernest Hemingway

62. “I need the sea because it teaches me.” — Pablo Neruda

63. “There’s never an end for the sea.” — Samuel Beckett

64. “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

Which of these sea quotes is your favorite?

The sea quotes above capture the essence of the ocean and how it’s seen by humanity.

Human beings have always been drawn to the water, whether it’s for transportation, food, or hydration.

And over the years, that draw has turned into so much more.

Why are humans so intrigued by the sea?

The sea brings opportunity, it brings exploration, it brings adventure, but most importantly, it brings life.

When we connect to the sea, we connect to its creatures, and its ability to fuel.

The sea draws people in to bring them toward discovery, and that is something that will never cease in human beings.

If you like this article you will also enjoy these seashell quotes!

Did you enjoy these inspiring sea quotes?

Which of the quotes resonated with you best?

Let us know in the comment section below.