“Surfing is kind of a good metaphor for the rest of life. 
The extremely good stuff - chocolate and great sex and weddings and hilarious jokes - fills a minute portion of an adult lifespan. 
The rest of life is the paddling: work, paying bills, flossing, getting sick, dying.” 
― Jaimal Yogis, Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer's Quest to Find Zen on the Sea

“Waves are like women, you can never get enough of them, always want a better, more dangerous one, and occasionally you get dumped.” 
― Robert Black

The human being is a self-propelled automaton entirely under the control of external influences. Willful and predetermined though they appear, his actions are governed not from within, but from without. He is like a float tossed about by the waves of a turbulent sea. 

Nikola Tesla

As long as I'm getting waves and having fun, the results tend to take care of themselves. 

Joel Parkinson

Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward. 

Maxwell Maltz

The choices we make lead up to actual experiences. 

It is one thing to decide to climb a mountain. It is quite another to be on top of it. 

Herbert A. Simon

"Surfing is attitude dancing."
Gerry Lopez

“Life is a lot like surfing… When you get caught in the impact zone, you’ve got to just get back up. Because you never know what may be over the next wave.” 
― Bethany Hamilton, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board

“Surfing's a more profound kind of sport than it looks. When you surf, you learn not to fight the power of nature, even if it gets violent.” 
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

“Every person needs to take one day away.  A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future.  Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence.  Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.  Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” 
― Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

It's all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family. 

Philip Green

“The camera is an excuse to be someplace you otherwise don’t belong. It gives me both a point of connection and a point of separation.”
— Susan Meiselas

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. 

Michael Jordan

“If you're having a bad day, catch a wave.” 
― Frosty Hesson

Surfing equates to living in the very moment of now'. When you ride a wave you leave behind all things important and unimportant, the purity of the moment is upon you.     

Bill Hamilton

“Well, in regards to surfing, I’ve learned that there is always another wave coming. Translated that means there is always tomorrow. No matter how badly you get caught inside, if you can just hang in there and keep paddling, the set is going to pass and there will be a lull afterwards. So don’t give up, just take your pounding, wait until the set passes, then make your move.”
~ Gerry Lopez