--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only thing that is ultimately real…" description: "\"The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is.\" — Eckhart Tolle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/eckhart-tolle-81_journey_the-only-thing-that-is-ultimately-real-a_802954.jpg" --- # The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey… ![“The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/eckhart-tolle-81_journey_the-only-thing-that-is-ultimately-real-a_802954.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/eckhart-tolle-81_journey_the-only-thing-that-is-ultimately-real-a_802954.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/eckhart-tolle-81_journey_the-only-thing-that-is-ultimately-real-a_802954.jpg) > “The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is.” [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The essence of one's journey is the present moment's step; all other concepts are secondary. **In simple terms:** Only the present step truly matters. Key Takeaway Focus on the now. Themes mindfulness presence existence journey reality Mood calm contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - daily tasks - goal setting - stress management Key Concepts philosophy spirituality psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can present focus coexist with future goals? - What role does memory play? A Different Perspective It may dismiss the value of long‑term planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Journey Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey-step-2038317/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-journey-544441/) [Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step/) [Step Taking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-taking-1768730/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Ultimately Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimately-real-4991449/) ## Related quotes > [Your outer journey may contain a million steps; your inner journey only has one: the step you are taking right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/your-outer-journey-may-contain-a-million-steps-your-inner-journey/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face NOTHING new under the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ultimately-a-real-understanding-of-history-means-that-we-face-nothing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It felt like every step was taking me further away from her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paritoshik-sharma/it-felt-like-every-step-was-taking-me-further-away-from-her/) [Paritoshik Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paritoshik-sharma/) > [...wanting change is step one, but step two is taking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/wanting-change-is-step-one-but-step-two-is-taking-it/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [The ultimate step in taking responsibility is making sure our actions line up with our words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/the-ultimate-step-in-taking-responsibility-is-making-sure-our-actions/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [You should always focus on training and consider it a step forward. And each step is taking you higher and higher until you reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylian-mbappe/you-should-always-focus-on-training-and-consider-it-a-step-forward/) [Kylian Mbappe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylian-mbappe/) > [“You're right, wanting change is step one, but step two is taking it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/you-re-right-wanting-change-is-step-one-but-step-two-is-taking-it/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [“TO GET THROUGH THE HARDEST JOURNEY, TAKE ONLY ONE STEP AT A TIME, BUT IN GOD’S STRENGTH KEEP ON STEPPING.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyndale/to-get-through-the-hardest-journey-take-only-one-step-at-a-time-but/) [Tyndale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyndale/) > [“No one gets anywhere without a family, a village, fellow travelers, whether reciprocated or not, willing or not, appreciated or not, and so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shellen-lubin/no-one-gets-anywhere-without-a-family-a-village-fellow-travelers/) [Shellen Lubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shellen-lubin/) > [You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-take-a-step-then-another-that-s-the-journey-but-to-take-a-step/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Life is a journey and every step we take moves us in some direction. When we are ready and willing, we learn, we advance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-martin/life-is-a-journey-and-every-step-we-take-moves-us-in-some-direction/) [Ricky Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-martin/) > [You have traveled far, but the hardest part of a journey is always the next step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-morris/you-have-traveled-far-but-the-hardest-part-of-a-journey-is-always-the/) [Jackie Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-morris/) > [Sometimes on the journey, you step in dog poop. But you don't let the whole journey be about the fact that your shoe got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/sometimes-on-the-journey-you-step-in-dog-poop-but-you-don-t-let-the/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [My real journey had very little to do with traveling Europe, and a whole lot to do with traveling my own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baldwin/my-real-journey-had-very-little-to-do-with-traveling-europe-and-a/) [Christina Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baldwin/) > [“Don't go off sightseeing. The real journey is right here. The great excursion starts from exactly where you are. You are the world. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jalaluddin-rumi/don-t-go-off-sightseeing-the-real-journey-is-right-here-the-great/) [Jalaluddin Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jalaluddin-rumi/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/a-powerful-spiritual-practice-is-consciously-to-allow-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [To become aware of the subtlety of nature you need to be alert. The moment you become alert you become still... thinking subsides. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/to-become-aware-of-the-subtlety-of-nature-you-need-to-be-alert-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [When you are not honoring the present moment by allowing it to be, you are creating drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-you-are-not-honoring-the-present-moment-by-allowing-it-to-be-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-a-deeper-level-you-are-already-complete-when-you-realize-that/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Journey quotes > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [What people tend to forget is the journey that I had getting to Formula One. There were plenty of years where I had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hamilton/what-people-tend-to-forget-is-the-journey-that-i-had-getting-to/) [Lewis Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hamilton/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Have a Blast; Life wont last! Make the best of the journey before it is over!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/have-a-blast-life-wont-last-make-the-best-of-the-journey-before-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cocoon's cry to first fly, Travels thousands of miles— So much in so little life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-negi/cocoon-s-cry-to-first-fly-travels-thousands-of-miles-so-much-in-so/) [Ritu Negi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-negi/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Loving yourself is a journey, not a destination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-holliday/loving-yourself-is-a-journey-not-a-destination/) [Tess Holliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-holliday/) > [“Everywhere is home, let is go home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzuco-hu-nh/everywhere-is-home-let-is-go-home/) [Dzuco Huỳnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzuco-hu-nh/) > [Life is a journey, not a destination. Fall into the deep - rise to new heights. .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashish-basumatary/life-is-a-journey-not-a-destination-fall-into-the-deep-rise-to-new/) [Ashish Basumatary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashish-basumatary/) > [Be the inner journeys, be the outer travels, all trips elevate man, all voyages lift him up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/be-the-inner-journeys-be-the-outer-travels-all-trips-elevate-man-all/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The hardest roads are often empty; the darkest paths are mostly silent; toughest destinations are almost peopleless! No easy road brings you great victory!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/the-hardest-roads-are-often-empty-the-darkest-paths-are-mostly-silent/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“May the seas bend to your journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoraida-c-rdova/may-the-seas-bend-to-your-journey/) [Zoraida Córdova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoraida-c-rdova/) [Browse all 11,861 Journey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. 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