There’s something truly special about lakes – maybe it’s the peaceful sound of waves lapping against a shore, or perhaps it’s the gentle quiet of a glass-like surface.

Maybe it’s an overwhelming sense of nostalgia that takes us back to childhood memories, or something else completely.

Whatever our individual appreciation for lakes, many have been inspired to write about these majestic bodies of water.

Here are 100 quotes about lakes that will inspire you to slow down and appreciate their beauty.

1. A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable.-William Wordsworth.
2. So lovely was the loneliness of a wild lake. -Edgar Allan Poe.
3. The lake of my mind, unbroken by oars, heaves placidly and soon sinks into an oily somnolence. -Virginia Woolf.
4. When you’re young you think that you’re going to sail into a lovely lake of quietude and peace. This is profoundly untrue. -Doris Lessing.
5. And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, Trembled but dimpled not for joy. -Walter Scott.
6. Such a mortal too was Clooth-na-Bare, who went all over the world, seeking a lake deep enough to drown her faery life, of which she had grown weary. -W.B. Yeats
7. Marriage may often be a stormy lake, but celibacy is almost always a muddy horsepond. -Thomas Love Peacock.
8. The lake still sleeps, still dreams its dream, under its bright, cold counterpane. -Ellen Palmer Allerton.
9. Stand here by my side and turn, I pray on the lake below thy gentle eyes. -William Cullen Bryant.
10. A blue rim borders all the lake’s still brink. -William Wordsworth.
11. Its waters yawn with the same fathomless intensity as Rakshas Tal, but the peacock blue has deepened to a well of pure cobalt, edged by snow mountains that overlook it from one horizon to another. -Colin Thubron.
12. The water. The lake. It flows through our veins, and there’s nothing we can do about it…It’s like venom. -Karen Katchur.
13. Who comes to the lake for water, and sees the reflection of the moon. -Rumi.
14. Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary, and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains. -Diane Ackerman.
15. The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it. -B.K.S. Iyengar.
16. Know when to give up and just go to the lake. -Unknown
17. On a quiet night at the lake, you can almost hear the fish laughing. -Unknown
18. A little tranquil lake is more significant to my life than any big city in the world. -Munia Khan
19. Advice from a lake: Be clear. Make positive ripples. Look beneath the surface. Stay Calm. Shore up friendships. Take time to reflect. Be full of life. -Unknown
20. When a stone is dropped into a pond, the water continues quivering even after the stone has sunk to the bottom. -Arthur Golden
21. A man without courage is a boat in a frozen lake. Get rid of your fears. -Mehmet Murat İldan
22. Lake is jealous of the mountain, and the mountain is jealous of the lake. -Mehmet Murat İldan
23. Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien
24. Even a pebble cast in the middle of a lake creates ripples that eventually reach the shore. -Jeffrey G. Duarte
25. Some days they last longer than others, but this day by the lake went too fast. -Rilo Kiley
26. Skip a stone. Take a hike. Sit a spell. Listen. Daydream. Just breathe. This is lake living. -Unknown
27. People don’t take trips. Trips take people. -John Steinbeck
28. Every year my feet touch its murky water, and my soul feels cleaner. -Thomm Quackenbush
29. Of all the paths you take in life make some lead to the lake. -Unknown
30. The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world. -Georges Simenon
31. If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. –Loren Eiseley
32. So lovely was the loneliness of a wild lake. –Edgar Allan Poe
33. It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things. –Nicholas Sparks
34. This lake exceeds anything I ever beheld in beauty. –Percy Bysshe Shelley
35. Of all the paths you take in life make some lead to the lake. –Unknown
36. Water is the driving force of all nature. –Leonardo da Vinci
37. A little tranquil lake is more significant to my life than any big city in the world. –Munia Khan
38. Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. –Wallace Stevens
39. Fill your life with lakes, not things. –Unknown
40. Make your heart like a lake, with a calm, still surface, and great depths of kindness. –Lao Tzu
41. Who could be so lucky? Who comes to a lake for water and sees the reflection of the moon? –Rumi
42. Many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond, many ponds make a lake, and many lakes make an ocean. –Percy Ross
43. Water creates so much beauty, life, and mystery. -Fennel Hudson
44. Not every lake dreams to be an ocean. Blessed are the ones who are happy with who they are. -Mehmet Murat Ildan
45. Even a pebble cast in the middle of a lake creates ripples that eventually reach the shore. –Jeffrey G. Duarte
46. The lake is calling. I must go.
47. Live. Love. Lake.
48. Memories made at the lake last forever.
49. The lake is good for the soul.
50. I’m gonna soak up the sun. –Sheryl Crow
51. All you need is love. And the lake…
52. Take me to the lake.
53. Life’s a beach, enjoy the waves.
54. Better to wake up at the lake.
55. Lake hair, don’t care.
56. There’s nothing quite like life by the water.
57. At the lake, every hour is happy hour.
58. When we count our blessings, we count days at the lake.
59. A clean cabin is a sign of wasted time at the lake.
60. Lake rules: Sleep in. Read. Nature. Memories. Relax. Fish. Enjoy each moment.
61. Boat waves, Sun rays, Ain’t nothing like Lake Days.
62. Lake hair, don’t care.
63. Nature’s poolside.
64. The Lake breeze puts me at ease.
65. If there is magic on this planet, it’s contained in water.
66. Give me a boat, a lake, and a drink in my hand. You will make me the happiest girl in the world.
67. A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable.
68. All you need is love. And the lake.
69. You keep your ocean, I’ll take the lake.
70. Be calm like a calm lake, then you will look beautiful like a beautiful calm lake!
71. I’m lost at the lake. Don’t bother me.
72. Time wasted at the lake is time well spent.
73. A clean cabin is a sign of wasted time at the lake.
74. I believe that water is the closest thing we have to God here on Earth.
75. The little lake you love is the biggest ocean for you!
76. Make your heart like a lake with a calm, still surface and great depths of kindness. -Lao Tzu
77. Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary, and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains… -Diane Ackerman
78. Paradise is found at the lakes.
79. Got the lake on my mind.
80. Lake rules: Sleep in. Read. Nature. Memories. Relax. Fish. Enjoy each moment.
81. A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is the earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. -Henry David Thoreau
82. I’m on lake time.
83. The lake is my happy place.
84. Forests, lakes, rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes – every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man. -Orison Swett Marden
85. In the hearts captivated by innocence, the eternal peace of a quiet lake is experienced! -Mehmet Murat ildan
86. Water is the driving force of all nature. -Leonardo da Vinci
87. Grace is like a lake of drinkable water right outside your door. But you stay inside and die of thirst. -Maya Angelou
88. If the lake sees the ocean, it will want big waves! If the ocean sees the lake, it will want calm days that last for years! -Mehmet Murat ildan
89. Every year my feet touch its murky water, and my soul feels cleaner. -Thomm Quackenbush
90. Every lake belongs to the quietness desired by the swans. -Munia Khan
91. The lake is good for the soul. –Unknown
92. A little tranquil lake is more significant to my life than any big city in the world. –Munia Khan
93. Know when to give up and just go to the lake. –Unknown
94. We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. –Zen Saying
95. The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen and reflected in it. -B.K.S Iyengar
96. Make your heart like a lake, with a calm, still surface, and great depths of kindness. –Lao Tzu
97. A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is the earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. –Henry David Thoreau
98. I grew up with the smell of the lake and the feeling of the woods. –Steven Tyler
99. When you’re young you think that you’re going to sail into a lovely lake of quietude and peace. This is profoundly untrue. –Doris Lessing
100. On a quiet night at the lake, you can almost hear the fish laughing. –Unknown

After exploring some of the inspiring quotes about lakes, it’s clear that they can be much more than a body of water; they can provide us with moments of tranquility and peace.

Lakes are often viewed by many as reminders of renewal and a connection to nature.

So when you find yourself needing moments of quiet reflection or simply a reprieve from your daily life, take time to visit a lake near you – you’ll thank yourself later!