Motivational quotes that encourage you to save lives by staying home.
By Destiny Duprey — Written on Mar 22, 2020
What's the difference between quarantine and isolation, and why has social distancing become the new buzz word during the coronavirus pandemic? Because of how rapidly the novel coronavirus is spreading across the world, countries are shutting down and governments are encouraging people to practice "social distance" — reducing the number of people gathering in places and requiring citizens to stay home in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Social distancing is the act of separating the public apart due to contagious illnesses during a pandemic.
There are a lot of skeptics online who are creating myths and conspiracies about the virus and questioning the call to self-isolate, but no matter your view or opinion about what is going on, in order to slow of spread of COVID-19, we must practice social distancing and self-quarantine to help those who are more susceptible to severe symptoms.
While many of us start to isolate ourselves at home, many people have started to work from home and companies have adjusted to allow for their employees to work remotely. Students of every grade level are figuring out how to transition to virtual and distance learning for school now that many schools across the country have closed for at least a month, and unfortunately many people have already been displaced or laid off from jobs that can't be done online.
The facts are present, and there is no reason to panic if we simply practice social distancing. Although being cooped up in our homes 24/7 doesn't seem like the ideal way to spend the next few weeks — especially during Spring break when everyone just wants to be at the beach — but there is no reason to feel like all hope is lost.
Instead of sitting in your room alone in those sweatpants you've worn for the past week, there are a lot of ways to engage with your friends and family and stay in communication with the world around you. For example, anyone with an iPhone can Facetime someone for hours on end — now we've got the time to spare to talk to each other.
Another way to stay connected with our friends is with a Google Chrome extension called "Netflix Party." Download the extension and share the link with your friends to watch any Netflix movie together! It is also equipped with a live chat.
The point is, social distancing might seem unfair and boring, but it is the best way to protect ourselves, our family and our community. But if you're feeling overwhelmed, worried, or just plan cooped up, look to this list below of the best encouraging coronavirus quotes about social distancing, and learn healthy habits you can incorporate into your routine as you stay at home and self-quarantine to get you through these long days.
1. Solitude matters.
"Solitude matters, and for some people, it's the air they breathe."— Susan Cain
2. No need to walk on the opposite side of the street to avoid Coronavirus.
"Staying on the same side of the street as somebody else is a very, very small risk of transmitting an infection."— Health expert from CBC News
3. Keep your community safe from COVID-19.
"This is what we need to do in our community to keep people safe, to keep our family safe, and to stop this virus from having the impact that we've seen in many other countries around the world."— Bonnie Henry, B.C. Provincial Health Officer
4. Spread laughs while you quarantine at home, not fear.
“Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends always belong, and laughter never ends.”— Unknown
5. You never realize how much you love home until you leave it.
“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.”— Unknown
6. It's not until you lose those connections that you realize how much you need them.
When you understand that being connected to others is one of life’s greatest joys, you realize that life’s best comes when you initiate and invest in solid relationships.” — John C. Maxwell, Today Matters
7. Find your best quarantine buddy.
“What I love most about staying home to self-quarantine is who I share it with.”— Unknown
8. Your favorite spots will still be there!
"I am asking all residents to think twice about whether they need to go out into public and visit bars and restaurants."— Kennedy Stewart, Mayor of Vancouver
9. Journey to the center of your soul.
"Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again."— Anaïs Nin
10. No storm will breakdown this house.
“Home is a shelter from storms-all sorts of storms.”— William J. Bennett
11. Prayers up for our homes!
“Bless our house as we come and go. Bless our home as the children grow. Bless our families as they gather in. Bless our home with love and friends.”— Unknown
12. You don't have to be productive when you're at home, quarantined.
"Don't think of introversion as something that needs to be cured... spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you're supposed to."— Susan Cain
13. All of us are social distancing and quarantining together so that things can get better faster.
“I will be seeing you soon and things will be better.”— Unknown
14. It's not about going out and doing more right now.
“The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you brought to other people’s lives that you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.” — Harold Kushner
15. Take this time of self-quarantining to relax and unwind at home.
“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”— Unknown
16. Home is the safest place to be right now.
“No matter who you are or where you are, instinct tells you to go home.”— Laura Marney
17. Take this time of social distancing to reconnect with yourself.
"I'm an introvert... I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky."— Audrey Hepburn
18. Do the right thing and make a real difference in the world around you, just by staying home.
"Stay away from people with tiny minds and tiny thoughts and start hanging out with people who see limitless possibility as the reality. Surround yourself with people who act on their big ideas, who take action on making positive change in the world and who see nothing as out of their reach.” — Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass
19. It's time to focus on our health by social distancing.
“A healthy outside starts from the inside.”— Robert Urich
20. Your health and wellness is your top priority.
“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”— Buddha
21. A health emergency like the coronavirus pandemic can shed light on issues we've been overlooking.
“Health is not valued till sickness comes.”— Thomas Fuller
22. Your body is all you've got, so do what you need to do to keep it healthy.
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in.”— Jim Rohn
23. Take care of your body now, before it's too late.
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”— Edward Stanley
24. Prioritize your health, use social distancing and quarantine yourself for the sake of others' health, too.
“You can’t enjoy wealth if you’re not in good health.”— Anonymous
25. You can still connect when you're practicing social distancing — just in a different way.
“Communication is merely an exchange of information, but connection is an exchange of our humanity.” — Sean Stephenson, Get Off Your “But”
26. All you need in this life is good health.
“You learn good health and family is it, and nothing else matters.”— Mike Adametz
27. Social distancing gives us the chance to live as introverts.
“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”— Audrey Hepburn
28. You make a difference when you keep your distance and self-quarantine.
“Everything you do has an impact. Who you are – that you are – actually matters. In an interconnected world (the only kind we have), our actions and the actions of others are inextricably linked- we are always and forever in a dance of mutual influence with those with whom we directly and indirectly participate. It is the unavoidable reality of being social creatures, only magnified by an ever-increasingly complex and interwoven societal structure. We matter to each other.” — Paul Greiner
29. While you're alone in self-quarantine, learn to value the sound of silence.
“Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.”— William S. Boroughs
30. Keep your distance.
“Please kindly go away, I’m introverting.”— Beth Buelow, The Introvert Entrepreneur
31. Be patient with the people around you.
“We get upset at other people because they don’t meet our ideals of how they should act. Instead, try accepting them for who they are, and recognizing that, like you, they’re imperfect and seeking happiness and struggling with finding happiness. They’re doing their best. Accept them, smile, and enjoy your time with this person.” — Leo Babauta
32. Do not fear being alone.
“In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.”— Rollo May
33. In this time of social distancing, it's important to find other means of communication.
“Any one of us can pick up a phone and call to see how people are doing and what they might need. Not only will helping others potentially help them, but it can help us to still feel connected as well.” — Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Brigham Young University
34. Go outside and smell the fresh air while keeping your distance.
“The ingredients of health and long life, and great temperance, open-air, easy labor, and little care.”— Philip Sidney
35. Stay positive while you're quarantined at home and remember to look at the bright side.
“Think positively and exercise daily, eat healthy, work hard, stay strong, build faith, worry less, read more, and be happy.”— Unknown
36. How to deal with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The general principle should be: Outside is better than inside, open is better than closed, fewer is better than more people, and stay away from sick people," — Dr. Erich Anderer, neurosurgeon
37. Social distancing is difficult for us because we are used to being close enough to see body language.
“When we interact with other people, a lot of the meaning conveyed between two people is actually not conveyed in the actual words, but in nonverbal behavior,” — Chris Segrin, University of Arizona
38. Don't be so hard on yourself while you self-quarantine.
"When you're in a home, there are going to be breaks in technique. We should do the best we can and not punish ourselves if we have the occasional slip-up," — Dr. William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
39. Protect others right now by keeping your distance.
“The highest form of love is to be the protector of another person’s solitude.”— Rainer Maria Rilke
40. Silence is beautiful. Use this time of social distancing to find that beauty within yourself.
“Silence is beautiful, not awkward. The human tendency to be afraid of something beautiful is awkward.”— Elliot Kay
41. Find a quarantine buddy who makes you feel less alone.
“I want to be alone… with someone else who wants to be alone.”— Dimitri Zaik
42. Social distancing is for the greater good.
“Pandemics are an especially demanding test … because we are not just trying to protect people we know, but also people we do not know or even, possibly, care about.” — Nicholas Christakis, Yale University
43. Find yourself a good quarantine buddy to keep you company.
“Perhaps the secret of living well is not in having all the answers but in pursuing unanswerable questions in good company.” — Rachel Naomi Remen
44. Cancel all my plans, I'm staying home for a month!
“In terms of, like, instant relief, canceling plans is like heroin.”— John Mulaney
45. Party in my head, bring your own hand sanitizer.
“My imagination functions much better when I don’t have to speak to people.”— Patricia Highsmith
46. You don't owe anyone an explanation for your need to be alone during this time.
“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it's not because they enjoy solitude. It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper
47. Especially now, avoid large crowds (and the people who need them).
“Beware of those who seek constant crowds; they are nothing alone.”— Charles Bukowski
48. Find happiness at home while you're quarantined.
"A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dares live."— Bertrand Russell
49. We all have to practice social distancing together to make a real change.
“If everyone makes this change, or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus,” — President Trump
50. Social distancing isn't in our nature, but right now, it's for the greater good.
“The coronavirus spreading around the world is calling on us to suppress our profoundly human and evolutionarily hard-wired impulses for connection: seeing our friends, getting together in groups, or touching each other.” - Nicholas Christakis, Yale University
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Destiny Duprey is a writer who covers music, self-care, and spirituality.