Sometimes we talk so much about being present and mindful that I forget what it actually means.

They’ve almost become buzzwords that get thrown around without exploration of the meaning behind them.

Eckhart Tolle has a way of bringing me back to the root of these concepts and how we can practice them in our daily lives. He brings me back to center and to the humanity of these often vague ideas.

He doesn’t sugarcoat or overexplain or complicate; instead, he simply states the faults in our perspective and the ways we can enhance our lives.

Here are 13 quotes that capture his wisdom and remind us to live with greater awareness:

1. “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”

2. “Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”

3. “Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness.”

4. “It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.”

5. “This, too, will pass.”

6. “Where there is anger there is always pain underneath.”

7. “Doing is never enough if you neglect Being.”

8. “Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside; it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you.”

9. “Watch any plant or animal and let it teach you acceptance of what is, surrender to the Now. Let it teach you Being. Let it teach you integrity—which means to be one, to be yourself, to be real. Let it teach you how to live and how to die, and how not to make living and dying into a problem.”

10. “Power over others is weakness disguised as strength.”

11. “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”

12. “To love is to recognize yourself in another.”

13. “If not now, when?”