Archery Quotes & Benefits (Powerful Benefits and Inspiration)

Inspiring archery quotes from some of the greatest archers and bowhunters out there. Find inspiration for your archery hobby, passion and lifestyle.

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“The shot will only go smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise.” 

Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery 

“Archery is not a sport for everyone. The equipment costs a lot, and it is not easy for everyone to find a place to play. It is perhaps similar to golf, but of course, there are more golf courses than archery fields.”

Im Dong-Hyun  

“The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do not wait for fulfillment, but brace yourself for failure.”  

Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery
Eugen Herrigel

In archery, we have something like the way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself.

Confucius  

“There is no excellence in archery without great labor.”

Maurice Thompson  

“Archery does not get difficult or hard to understand until the arrow misses.”  

Milan E. Elott

“The history of the bow and arrow is the history of mankind.”

Fred Bear
Fred Bear

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects but are one reality. 

Eugen Herrigel 

“A good archer is known not by his arrows but by his aim.”

Thomas Fuller  

“Archery is like a journey, it begins with a love for shooting a bow and a passion for watching our arrows fly.”  

Ron Laclair

“The main thing about archery is a battle with yourself. You can ruin it all. Once you have learned the technique, the point is to recreate the perfect technique over and over and over.”  

Geena Davis
Geena Davis archery quotes
Geena Davis

“I got to dress up in funny clothes and run around New Zealand with a bow and arrow for 18 months, how bad could that be?”  

Orlando Bloom

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”  

Khalil Gibran

“It concerns us to know the purposes we seek in life, for then, like archers aiming at a definite mark, we shall be more likely to attain what we want.” 

Aristotle

“Nobody cares, work harder.”

Cameron Hanes
bowhunter, archer and ultra-marathon runner Cameron Hanes focusing on a target, archery quotes
Cameron Hanes

“I am a very good archer. I use archery as my way of meditation. And I have my bow, my arrow, and I use this tension and relaxation in the second after throwing the arrow. When I do archery, I am totally there with my bow, my target, my arrow, and I don’t think I am in communion with the universe.”

Paulo Coelho  

Nothing clears a troubled mind better than shooting a bow.  

Fred Bear

“The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede.” 

Eugen Herrigel 

But you must be patient and careful, nor should you expect to become an accomplished archer without long and severe training.  

Maurice Thompson
archery quotes master Maurice Thompson
Maurice Thompson

You have to relax when you’re shooting an arrow. You can’t be tense. And that just helps in your day-to-day life.  

Stephen Amell

“Even as the archer loves the arrow that flies, so too he loves the bow that remains constant in his hands.”  

Nigerian Proverb

“If you would hit the mark [at long range], you must aim a little above it: Every arrow that flies feels the pull of the earth.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  

“Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.”  

Joel Hawes

“Archery is still a matter of life and death to the extent that it is a contest of the archer with himself;”

Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery  
archery quotes book, Zen in the Art of Archery book cover

What are the benefits of archery practice?

Pursuing a hobby in archery comes with many benefits that you may not expect including:

  • Improved Upper Body Strength
  • Improved Focus
  • Practicing Patience
  • Discipline
  • Hand-Eye Coordination
  • Mindfulness
  • Improved Confidence

Hopefully this list of archery quotes and benefits has you inspired and ready to get in some target practice!

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