If there’s one truth that humans have long learned to accept, it’s that everything changes. As far back as 500 BCE, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus was spreading the idea that the world as we know it is constantly in flux — as he famously stated, “Everything changes and nothing stands still.”
Fast-forward to modern times and change remains an unavoidable part of our lives, both on a personal level and in terms of human progress, for better and for worse. Typically, though, a fresh perspective tends to be seen as a good thing: Since the Victorian era, people have used the proverb, “A change is as good as a rest.” Many musicians have also extolled the virtues of evolving, from David Bowie singing “ch-ch-ch-ch-changes” to Michael Jackson’s rallying cry to “take a look at yourself and then make a change.”
Here are some more quotes about change, spanning the centuries from Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius to the modern-day poet Amanda Gorman.
Observe always that everything is the result of a change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them.Marcus Aurelius
Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher
The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician and philosopher
To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.Henri Bergson, philosopher
There is nothing wrong in change, if it is in the right direction. To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.Winston Churchill
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.George Bernard Shaw
I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.Aldous Huxley
To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.Helen Keller
It’s not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating, they have to be about change.Miles Davis
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.John F. Kennedy
Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.Frida Kahlo
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.Andy Warhol
All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change.Octavia E. Butler
Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late.Seth Godin
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.Maya Angelou
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.Barack Obama
Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.Eckhart Tolle
One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.Malala Yousafzai
Change is made of choices, and choices are made of character.Amanda Gorman
Photo credit: Bettmann via Getty Images
