140 EPIC Adventure Quotes [2023 Best Quotes About Adventure List]

The best adventure quotes put an itch in your feet.

They ignite your wanderlust.

And they compel you to ditch the mundane for a fuller and more meaningful life.

I love quotes about adventure for all these reasons, so decided to compile a long list of the best ones I could find!

I hope you get value from them, too. Here are 140 epic quotes on adventure.

Looking for quotes about new adventures? You might also like these:

Best Adventure Quotes

Let’s start with what I consider to be the best adventure quotes out there. Coming straight from the mouths of some of history’s most infamous explorers, thinkers, and wordsmiths, they should get you raring for an adventure.

1. “Blessed are the curious for they will have adventures.” – Lovelle Drachman

2. “A ship in harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” – John Shedd

3. “If happiness is the goal – and it should be – then adventures should be top priority.” – Richard Branson

4. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

5. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac

6. “The goal is to die with memories not dreams.” – Anonymous

7. “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

8. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

Set fire to all your maps, forget how it’s always been. We’re explorers of the heart, learning to dream again. The adventure of a lifetime with love alone as our guide. Exotic places beyond imagination – ones we’ve longed for deep inside.

— John Mark Green

10. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

11. “At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair should be messy and your eyes sparkling.” – Shanti

12. “Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in 10 seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury

13. “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

14. “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” – Jennifer Lee

15. “Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on I’ll be mad.” – Rumi

16. “You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” – Winnie the Pooh

17. “Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun. Be crazy, be weird, go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Don’t try to be perfect, just be an excellent example of being human.” – Tony Robbins

18. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

19. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Aristophanes

20. “Freedom. Only those deprived of it know what it really is.” – Timothy Cavendish, Cloud Atlas

Short Quotes about Adventure

Some of my favourite adventure quotes are short and sweet. For one thing, it makes them more memorable! But it also seems to give the words more clout. See if you agree by reading through the following 20 short quotes about adventure:

21. “Oh Darling, let’s be adventurers.” – Unknown

22. “Everyday is another adventure!” – Tracee Raptis

23. “Jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty

24. “Live for the moments you can’t put into words.” – Unknown

25. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

26. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

27. “Little by little, one travels far.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

28. “It’s not down in any map. True places never are.” – Herman Melville

29. “Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop

30. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” – Stephen Covey

31. “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” – Yogi Berra

32.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.

— T.S. Eliot

33. “Live your life and forget your age.” – Norman Vincent Peale

34. “Respond to every call that excites your spirit.” – Rumi

35. “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” – Amelia Earhart

36. “All travel has its advantages.” – Samuel Johnson

37. “To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen

38. “Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves.” – Euripides

39. “Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” – David Mitchel

40. “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” – Buddha

Insightful Adventurous Life Quotes

Many of the best quotes about adventure teach us something about the value of an adventurous life. Here are 20 insightful quotes of this nature:

41. “Some people live more in twenty years than others do in forty. It’s not the time, it’s the person.” – Doctor Who

42. “No, we don’t need more sleep. It’s our souls that are tired, not our bodies. We need nature. We need magic. We need adventure. We need freedom. We need truth. We need stillness. We don’t need more sleep. We need to wake up and live.” – Brooke Hampton

43. “Anytime I feel lost, I pull out a map and stare. I stare until I have reminded myself that life is a giant adventure, so much to do, to see.” – Angelina Jolie

44. “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

45. “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it. The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply that they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” – Peter Pan

46. “A great way to learn about your country is to leave it.” – Henry Rollins

47. “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” – Dolly Parton

48. “The summit is what drives us, but the climb itself is what matters.” – Conrad Anker

49. “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” – Martin Buber

50.

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.

— W.M. Lewis

51. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills

52. “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

53. “How you live your life is up to you. You have to go out and grab the world by the horns. Rope it before it ties you down and decides for you.” – Sarah Reijonen

54. “It’s a road trip! It is about adventure…It’s not like we have somewhere to go.” – John Green

55. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal.” – Paul Coelho

56. “The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

57. “Traveling is not something you’re good at. It’s something you do, like breathing.” – Gayle Foreman

58. “The best stories are found between the pages of a passport.” – Anonymous

59. “There’s something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination. I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave.” – Charlotte Eriksson

60. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

Life’s an Adventure Quotes

There’s an argument to say that life itself is an adventure! After all, it’s definitely a journey of sorts. Here are 20 adventure quotes that reference this outlook:

61. “Life is a fatal adventure. It can only have one end. So why not make it as far-ranging and free as possible?” –Thornton Wilder

62. “Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets.” – Oscar Wilde

63. “The greatest adventure is the one within.” – Jon Miksis

64. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

65. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

66. “Life is an adventure, it’s not a package tour.” – Eckhart Tolle

67. “I don’t want to not live because of my fear of what could happen.” – Laird Hamilton

68. “There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road

69. “I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery – air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, “This is what it is to be happy.” – Sylvia Plath

70.

The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

— Christopher McCandless

71. “To the movers, the makers, and the shakers, the world is all around, an endless invitation.” – Unknown

72. “I am not born for one corner; the whole world is my native land.” – Seneca

73. “She wasn’t where she had been. She wasn’t where she was going, but she was on her way.” – Jodi Hills

74. “Take every chance you get in life, because some things only happen once.” – Karen Gibbs

75. “To live will be an awfully big adventure!” – Peter Pan

76. “The world is big and I want to get a good look at it before it gets dark.” – John Muir

77. “I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” – Caskie Stinnett

78. “The sun will rise and set regardless. What we choose to do with the light while it’s here is up to us. Journey wisely.” – Alexandra Elle

79. “Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” – Unknown

80. “Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.” – Erol Ozan

Thought-Provoking Quotes about New Adventures

Are you living your best life? Or do you feel called to do something different with your time – something more? If so, an adventure could be what you need. Here are 20 adventure quotes that’ll make you think:

81. “But he’d learned long ago that a life lived without risks pretty much wasn’t worth living.” – Tamera Alexander

82. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman

83. “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ernest Hemingway

84. “Maybe sometimes it’s riskier not to take a risk. Sometimes all you’re guaranteeing is that things will stay the same.” – Danny Wallace

85. “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

86. “The best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll

87. “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous

88. “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

89. “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” – Mandy Hale

90. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai

91.

If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.

— Rachel Wolchin

92. “I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.” – Vincent van Gogh

93. “I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

94. “Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.” – Rick Watson

95. “So shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless and don’t be sorry.” – Jack Kerouac

96. “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.” – Carl Sandburg

97. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist.” – Oscar Wilde

98. “So much of who we are is where we have been.” – William Langewiesche

99. “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” – Soren Kierkegaard

100. “Adventure is a path. Real adventure, self-determined, self-motivated, often risky, forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world.” – Mark Jenkins

Funny Quotes on Adventure

Sure, the following quotes on adventure might not be laugh-out-loud-funny! But I hope they’ll at least put a smile on your face.

101. “There is nothing safer than flying, it’s crashing that is dangerous.” – Theo Cowan

102. “Not everyone has to ride off into the sunset with a man. Some of us just want a tan.” – Mandy Hale

103. “Sometimes the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason.” – Jerry Seinfeld

104. “Kilometres are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometres.” – George Carlin

105. “A road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting and new places.” – Tom Lichtenheld

106. “Be careful who you make memories with. Those things can last a lifetime.” – Ugo Eze

107. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

108. “Well, we’re not in the middle of nowhere, but we can see it from here.” – Thelma and Louise

109. “This is no longer a vacation. It’s a quest. It’s a quest for fun. You’re gonna have fun, and I’m gonna have fun…we’re all gonna have so much f***ing fun we’re gonna need plastic surgery to remove our goddamn smiles!” – National Lampoon’s Vacation

110. “According to the map, we’ve only gone four inches.” – Dumb and Dumber

111. “If you’re not lost, you’re not much of an explorer.” – John Perry Barlow

112.

A hangover suggests a great night, jet lag suggests a great adventure.

— J.D. Andrews

113. “It doesn’t matter how old you get, buying snacks for a road trip should always look like an unsupervised 9 year old was given $100.” – Unknown

114. “Surely, of all the wonders in the world, the horizon is the greatest.” – Freya Stark

115. “To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.” – Reba McEntire

116. “Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticise them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.” – Jack Handey

117. “Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. Then, by all means, follow that path.” – Ellen DeGeneres

118. “Do not take life too seriously. You never get out of it alive.” – Elbert Hubbard

119. “I’m sick of following my dreams, man. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ‘em later.” – Mitch Hedberg

120. “A road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting and new places.” – Tom Lichtenheld

Miscellaneous Quote About Adventure Selection

Finally, here are some adventure quotes that don’t necessarily fit into any other section on this list! If you still haven’t found the perfect adventure quote for your needs, I hope it’ll be in the selection that follows.

121. “Come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned.” – Peter Pan

122. “Don’t die without embracing the daring adventure your life was meant to be.” – Steve Pavlina

123. “I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.” – Roman Payne

124. “Travel opens your heart, broadens your mind, and fills your life with stories to tell.” – Paula Bendfeldt

125. “I love the weirdos. The rule-breakers. The strange, whimsical, outlandish, peculiar, and uncanny. The misfits. The curious, unusual, eccentric, and unpredictable. The freaks. The radical, star-gazing vagabonds. The loners. The rejects. The outsiders. The silly romanticists who ridiculously believe of changing the world someday… because they do.” – Creig Crippen

126. “As soon as I saw you I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” – A. A. Milne

127. “Travelling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

128. “Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” – Francis Bacon

129. “The best trips, like best love affairs, never really end.” – Pico Iyer

130. “I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

131.

We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.

— Ray Bradbury

132. “Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote.” – Michael Palin

133. “If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” – Cesare Pavese

134. “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment.” – Hilaire Belloc

135. “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve travelled.” – Mohammed

136. “Travel doesn’t become adventure until you leave yourself behind.” – Marty Rubin

137. “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus

138. “Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show.” – Anonymous

139. “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ernest Hemingway

140. “As soon as I saw you, I knew you would be an adventure of a lifetime.” – Winnie the Pooh

Fuel Your Wanderlust with These Adventure Quotes

I think most of us, at some point in life, feel drawn to the idea of an adventure.

After all, our days – especially as we get older – can become so mundane and routine-like that we can become desperate for change.

Reading through a list of the best adventure quotes obviously isn’t the same as packing your bags and hitting the road!

But it might trigger the desire in you to break the routine and do something crazy.

With any luck, these quotes about adventure will have stirred something up inside you – stoked the flames of wanderlust and convinced you to go and have an adventure of your own.

Next step? Listen to these tropical travel songs!