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Quotations about Breathing
Most adults breathe too often but do not breathe enough. ~Emily M. Bishop, "The Breath of Life," c.1892
He began to breathe deep, drinking the air as drunkards drink their wine... ~Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893), "Moonlight," translated by Jonathan Sturges
Right breathing makes for long living. ~H. Addington Bruce, Nerve Control and How to Gain It, 1918
When you are depressed and life is a snarl, then is the time to QUIT THINKING and just go out and breathe and breathe. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
Deep breathing is the greatest cure for all physical ailments. ~Edward Lankow (1883–1940)
Our breathing should be pleasant and joyful. If you are ever unsure about what to do, go back and enjoy your breathing. ~Thich Nhat Hanh, "Enjoying Our Breathing," 1998, published in The Path of Emancipation, 2000, plumvillage.org
To one who has been long in city pent,
'T is very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament...
~John Keats (1795–1821) ["Breathing prayer" phrases go back at least to 1772 and the concept centuries prior to that.
We live most life, whoever breathes most air
And counts his dying years by sun and sea.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Love," 1844
Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again. ~Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation, translated by Mobi Ho, 1987, plumvillage.org
The staff of life is not bread — it is breath. For you can live days without drink, and weeks without food. But you can only live a few minutes without air. ~Corrective Eating Society, Inc., The New Science of Controlled Breathing: The Secret of Strength, Energy, and Beauty — Through Breath Control, 1922
Nose breathing is the first principle of right breathing. Mouth breathing is inadequate to the needs of the human organism. ~H. Addington Bruce, Nerve Control and How to Gain It, 1918
Having devoted the greater part of my life to visiting and studying the various Native Races of North and South America, and observing the healthy condition and physical perfection of those peoples in their primitive state, I believe I have discovered the cause of numerous health problems that exist in our civilized communities. I believe, and feel authorized to assert, that a great proportion of the diseases prematurely fatal to human life, as well as mental and physical deformities, and destruction of the teeth, are caused by abuse of the lungs, in the
Quiet and natural sleep is the great physician and restorer of mankind; but the habit of sleeping with the mouth open is destructive to the human constitution. Man's cares and fatigues of the day become a daily disease, for which quiet sleep is the cure; and the
There is no animal in nature, excepting Man, that sleeps with the mouth open; and with mankind, I believe the habit, which is not natural, is generally confined to civilized communities, where he is nurtured and raised amidst enervating luxuries and unnatural warmth, where the habit is easily contracted, and in sudden changes of temperature, even in his own house. Through the enjoyment of his artificial comforts and pleasures, he is destroying his teeth, his good looks, and often his life, in the thoughtless departure from natural simplicities and instincts. Man, who suffers under many ills in life, should take care that his lungs and teeth, however much abused during the day, should at least be treated with kindness during the night. Breathing should be done as Nature designed it, through the nose.
There is no perfect sleep for man or brute, with the mouth open. When you close your eyes to sleep, close your mouth too, only to be opened after your eyes and ears in the morning. Though the majority of civilized people are more or less addicted to the habit of sleeping with the mouth open, few will admit that they are subject to it. They go to sleep and awake, with their mouths shut, not knowing that the insidious enemy, like the deadly Vampire that imperceptibly sucks the blood, gently steals upon them in their sleep and does its work of death whilst they are unconscious of the evil. Every physician should advise his patients, and every school its pupils, and every hospital, regiment, nursery, and mother should attempt to stop this unnatural and dangerous habit.
If I were to endeavour to bequeath to posterity the most important Motto which human language can convey, it should be in three words:
[S]he had been... doing the exercises she had promised Grandma to do, so she wouldn't get the lung fever like her mammy did... rising on her toes, lifting her hands till they met overhead, pointing to the pale-blue sky, then bringing them down slowly, letting out the long breath. Ten times, breathing deep of the morning air, filling herself with refreshment while the first sun shone on the far green willows and spread itself on the water... ~Cid Ricketts Sumner, Tammy Out of Time, 1958
When I stopped to pay attention to where my breathing was deep and settled, the truth began to emerge from the mist. ~Betsy Cañas Garmon, betsygarmon.com
Air is the substance on which principally we feed. What we eat is of secondary importance. The purity of the blood and the strength of the arteries through which it throbs depend absolutely upon right breathing. The greater the quantity of air taken into the lungs, the more oxygen for the purification of the blood — the constant and prime requirement for health. ~Edward Lankow, The New Science of Controlled Breathing: The Secret of Strength, Energy, and Beauty — Through Breath Control, 1922
When you feel cast down, despondent, fearful, paralyzed, go out doors and breathe. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
I am in health, I breathe... ~William Shakespeare,
Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. ~Thich Nhat Hanh, Plum Village Chanting Book, 1991, plumvillage.org
Special exercises for the lungs, that is, conscious deep breathing exercises for a specific period of time, will give results which few realize. It is all so simple that most of us cannot believe it, like all truths. ~Edward Lankow, The New Science of Controlled Breathing: The Secret of Strength, Energy, and Beauty — Through Breath Control, 1922
Breathing is the easiest thing in the world to do; therefore you can do it when you are too depressed and paralyzed to do anything else; you can breathe fully until you gain power to do something else. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
Eating, drinking, and breathing, are the triumvirate that rule the world. ~“A Hundred Thoughts,”
Man's life depends from one moment to another on the air which he breathes; the atmosphere is nowhere pure enough for the healthy use of the lungs until it has passed the purifying process which Nature has prepared in the nostrils. ~George Catlin (1796–1872)
The best cough syrup ever prescribed for weak lungs is a ten minutes practice of deep breathing. ~George L. Beardsley, "The Rational Treatment of Consumption," 1896
The wisest one-word sentence? Breathe. ~Terri Guillemets
Great success in singing is impossible to the vocalist who does not thoroughly understand breathing... As I have often said, a beautiful voice is only the basis of vocal progress, in the perfection of which correct breathing is the greatest technical essential. ~Nellie Melba, "The Science of Singing," 1908
Learn to use your chest and diaphragm all sorts of ways. But aim for the full, even, rhythmic breath, up, out and down, as the habit-breath. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
One should cultivate the habit of full breathing, through the nostrils, at all times. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
Nature has provided that all great things should be essentially simple. It is thus with the process of breathing, which is the chief vital functioning of the body... [S]o far as possible, all inhalation of air should be through the nose... If there is a tendency to breathe through the mouth, this will be manifested most decidedly at night, when you are asleep, and the muscles are relaxed... If you find that you are in the habit of sleeping with the mouth open — awakening in the morning with a dry, harsh throat, it might be well to adopt the device which Dr. William H. Fitzgerald introduced to the medical profession almost 20 years ago. This consists merely in applying a small piece of surgeon's adhesive plaster over the closed lips, keeping them closed during all the hours of the night. ~Edward Lankow, The New Science of Controlled Breathing: The Secret of Strength, Energy, and Beauty — Through Breath Control, 1922
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am. ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, 1963 [The edition I first read in high school of Plath's classic novel was printed as "listened to the old bray of my heart" and periods instead of commas between each
Full breathing lets in power. It permits an influx of power to every part of the body. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
[W]ho will tell whether one happy moment of love, or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies? ~Erich Fromm, 1955
Civilized man may properly be said to be an open-mouthed animal; a wild man is not. But he is open-mouthed by habit and not by Nature. ~George Catlin (1796–1872)
It is one of the misfortunes of Civilization, that it has too many amusing and exciting things for the mouth to say, and too many delicious things for it to taste, to allow of its being closed during the day. ~George Catlin (1796–1872)
What pictures of innocence and enjoyment are those who are quietly sleeping with their mouths firmly shut, and their teeth closed, smiling as they are enjoying their natural repose! ~George Catlin (1796–1872)
Equally as important as right thinking is right breathing. Your lungs take in from the air not only oxygen... but wisdom, love and vital and mental power. The shallow breather robs himself literally of health, happiness and success. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
...fill your paper with the breathings of your heart... ~William Wordsworth, 1812
Right breathing is the art of all arts. ~Author unknown
Breathe for dear life and health. ~Elizabeth Jones Towne, Practical Methods for Self Development, 1904
Better take breath, sir. ~John Neal, "Phantasmagoria," 1848
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published 2006 Jul 15
revised 2021 Jan 23
last saved 2025 Jun 2
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