--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stay in the center, and you will be ready…" description: "\"Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.\" — Alan Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg" --- # Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any… ![“Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg) > “Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Staying centered creates balance, enabling flexible movement and response in any circumstance. **In simple terms:** Center yourself to stay adaptable. Key Takeaway Practice mindfulness to maintain equilibrium. Themes balance adaptability presence Mood calm focused resilient Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - stressful workday - public speaking - travel - personal crisis Key Concepts mindfulness inner stability flexibility Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain center under pressure? - What practices keep you grounded? A Different Perspective Centering alone may not solve external constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Center](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/center/) [Center Ready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/center-ready-2357564/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Ready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready/) [Ready Direction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready-direction-2357565/) [Stay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay/) [Stay Center](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay-center-732445/) ## Related quotes > [Stay at the center and let all things take their course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/stay-at-the-center-and-let-all-things-take-their-course/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [No matter what your accomplishments are, the records you've broken, etc., when a team is ready to move in a direction - they're ready.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan-mcnabb/no-matter-what-your-accomplishments-are-the-records-you-ve-broken-etc/) [Donovan McNabb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan-mcnabb/) > [There's something inside you that knows when you're in the center, that knows when you're on the beam or off the beam. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/there-s-something-inside-you-that-knows-when-you-re-in-the-center/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Success can be very difficult to deal with. You have to stay in the center. If you let your success define you, then you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/success-can-be-very-difficult-to-deal-with-you-have-to-stay-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would want to be in a larger group. Personally, it would give me a sense of security, that we aren't a force to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-serratos/i-would-want-to-be-in-a-larger-group-personally-it-would-give-me-a/) [Christian Serratos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-serratos/) > [I teach people that no matter what the situation is, no matter how chaotic, no matter how much drama is around you, you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/i-teach-people-that-no-matter-what-the-situation-is-no-matter-how/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“Stay at the center of your being without allowing your attention to become distracted by sensory stimulation. Be still and let your true nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilchi-lee/stay-at-the-center-of-your-being-without-allowing-your-attention-to/) [Ilchi Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilchi-lee/) > [Discipline is a necessary tool to help you get what you want in life. It forces you to stay on center and to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-ross/discipline-is-a-necessary-tool-to-help-you-get-what-you-want-in-life/) [Diana Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-ross/) > [I was a black center in the middle of all the nature. I was nothing, but I could do anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/i-was-a-black-center-in-the-middle-of-all-the-nature-i-was-nothing/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [I was married to a law student, and I used to attend classes with him at Georgetown University Law Center. Being of dramatic bent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luanne-rice/i-was-married-to-a-law-student-and-i-used-to-attend-classes-with-him/) [Luanne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luanne-rice/) > [Thoughts will lead you in circles. Silence will bring you back to your center.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thoughts-will-lead-you-in-circles-silence-will-bring-you-back-to-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we prefer to do is operate our investment bank in a way that is like what investment banks used to be, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-stephens/what-we-prefer-to-do-is-operate-our-investment-bank-in-a-way-that-is/) [Warren Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-stephens/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Center quotes > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [What we prefer to do is operate our investment bank in a way that is like what investment banks used to be, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-stephens/what-we-prefer-to-do-is-operate-our-investment-bank-in-a-way-that-is/) [Warren Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-stephens/) > [Thoughts will lead you in circles. Silence will bring you back to your center.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thoughts-will-lead-you-in-circles-silence-will-bring-you-back-to-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was married to a law student, and I used to attend classes with him at Georgetown University Law Center. Being of dramatic bent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luanne-rice/i-was-married-to-a-law-student-and-i-used-to-attend-classes-with-him/) [Luanne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luanne-rice/) > [I was a black center in the middle of all the nature. I was nothing, but I could do anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/i-was-a-black-center-in-the-middle-of-all-the-nature-i-was-nothing/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [The center of all my enjoyments is the home wherein are my wife and children, and I have no wish to wander out from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/the-center-of-all-my-enjoyments-is-the-home-wherein-are-my-wife-and/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) > [“My beliefs are the center of my being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/my-beliefs-are-the-center-of-my-being/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I played on a line with Theo Fleury and German Titov, and I was actually center on their line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarome-iginla/i-played-on-a-line-with-theo-fleury-and-german-titov-and-i-was/) [Jarome Iginla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarome-iginla/) > [The most important thing about Jazz at Lincoln Center is the fact that it's the first time that perhaps the most important art form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-vinoly/the-most-important-thing-about-jazz-at-lincoln-center-is-the-fact/) [Rafael Vinoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-vinoly/) > [I went to a Bulls game when it was still in Chicago Stadium before they built the United Center.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-gibbs/i-went-to-a-bulls-game-when-it-was-still-in-chicago-stadium-before/) [Freddie Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-gibbs/) > [“Just remain in the center; watching. And then forget that you are there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/just-remain-in-the-center-watching-and-then-forget-that-you-are-there/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“if I wanted to be the center of the universe I’d have a dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-i-wanted-to-be-the-center-of-the-universe-i-d-have-a-dog/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Lou Tyrrell has created a theatre that is a safe haven for playwrights, a birthing center for new American writing. Arts Garage has created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/lou-tyrrell-has-created-a-theatre-that-is-a-safe-haven-for/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) [Browse all 631 Center quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/center/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready-to-move-in-any-direction/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Center" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready-to-move-in-any-direction/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ce/alan-watts-587_moving_stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready_1841990.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.” — Alan Watts", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Stay in the center, and you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready-to-move-in-any-direction/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/stay-in-the-center-and-you-will-be-ready-to-move-in-any-direction/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```