25 powerful work-life balance quotes for better boundaries

February 28, 2025

Inspiring work-life balance quotes worth sharing

Most of us know the feeling, your phone buzzes with work emails at 9 PM, your weekend plans get hijacked by “urgent” projects, and somehow your personal life keeps shrinking while your work hours keep growing. It’s no surprise that 95% of workers in the USA said it is very important to them to work for an organization that respects the boundaries between work and nonwork time.

We all need regular reminders that life shouldn’t be an endless grind of meetings and deadlines. That’s we’ve gathered a couple of work-life balance quotes that will serve as little reality checks that nudge us back toward sanity. They remind us that crushing it at work matters, but so does having enough energy left to actually enjoy the life you’re working so hard to build and achieve a good work-life balance.

25 work-life balance quotes for extra boost

Before you sacrifice another weekend to work, consider these powerful insights about what truly matters from people who built remarkable careers without losing themselves:

  1. “Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create.” – Jana Kingsford
  2. “You will never feel truly satisfied by work until you are satisfied by life.” – Heather Schuck
  3. “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you.” – Anne Lamott
  4. “Your job is to fill your own cup so it overflows. Then you can serve others joyfully, from your saucer.” – Lisa Nichols
  5. “You can always make more money, but you can’t make more time.” – Unknown
  6. “Success is not just about climbing the ladder; it’s about knowing when to take the elevator down and enjoy the view.” – Unknown
  7. “Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.” – Hillary Clinton
  8. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler
  9. “Your work will fill a large part of your life, but it should never be your whole life.” – Unknown
  10. “Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.” – Katie Reed
  11. “Prioritize your peace. You may have to lose your balance for a while to gain a lifetime of stability.” – S. McNutt
  12. “Burnout is a way of telling you that your form of activism was perhaps not a very full circle.” – Gloria Steinem
  13. “You can do anything, but not everything.” – David Allen
  14. “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey
  15. “It’s all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family.” – Philip Green
  16. “Remember: You’re more productive when you manage your mental, physical, and emotional health.” – Unknown
  17. “Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first, it means me too.” – L.R. Knost
  18. “The goal is to build a life you don’t need a vacation from.” – Rob Hill Sr.
  19. “Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” – Ralph Marston
  20. “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.” – Carl Sandburg
  21. “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” – Dolly Parton
  22. “You’ve got to keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.” – Warren Buffett
  23. “Work-life balance is not an entitlement or benefit. Your company cannot give it to you. You have to create it for yourself.” – Matthew Kelly
  24. “Framing the issue of work-life balance – as if the two were dramatically opposed – practically ensures work will lose out. Who would ever choose work over life?” – Sheryl Sandberg
  25. “So every time you feel yourself being pulled into other people’s nonsense, repeat these words: not my circus, not my monkeys.” – Polish Proverb

Conclusion

So set those boundaries between work and personal life, protect your personal time, and remember that success includes being present for the life happening outside your inbox. Your career is a marathon, not a sprint and as any good runner knows, pacing yourself is how you make it to the finish line.

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