James Clear’s Atomic Habits is one of the richest books on habits. It contains definitions of the word “habit” in numerous contexts to show the reader how flexible and broad it is and to reshape people’s understanding of habit formation, goals, systems, good habits, bad habits, and much more. The book was published in 2018 and it gained a huge interest from readers all over the world, making it one of the most influential books on self-development and improvement, which encouraged us to prepare a collection of quotes from Atomic Habits that cover all 20 chapters from the book.
Quotes from Atomic Habits
Due to the continuous interest in searching for quotes from Atomic Habits that are easily sharable by everyone on social media and any other platform, we present to you the biggest selection of quotes from Atomic Habits to help you quote the author and the book whenever you need to.
Chapter 1: The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits

Chapter 1 of the book includes the best quotes from Atomic Habits that vary in length, topic, and direction. For example, a significant number of readers ask about Atomic Habits quotes 1 percent which is “if you can get just 1 percent better each day, you’ll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after one year.”
Here are some quotes from Atomic Habits, Chapter 1:
- “A habit is a routine or behavior that is performed regularly and, in many cases, automatically.” Page 6
- “With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results.”
- “The backbone of this book is my four-step model of habits-cue, craving, response, and reward.”
- “If you can get just 1 percent better each day, you’ll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after one year.”
- “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
- “Success is the product of daily habits-not-once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
- “Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.”
- “Mastery requires patience.”
- “Forget about goals, focus on systems instead.”
- “Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.”
- “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
- “An atomic habit refers to a tiny change, a marginal gain, a 1 percent improvement.”
Chapter 2: How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (And Vice Versa)

If you are wondering: Is Atomic Habits worth reading in 2023? Then the answer is yes! Check out these quotes from Atomic Habits on identity and its relation to habit formation.
- “Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.”
- “Behavior that is incongruent with the self will not last.”
- “The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.”
- “True behavior change is identity change.”
- “Your identity is literary your “repeated beingness””
Chapter 3: How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

In order to succeed in building better habits, you need to check out these Atomic Habits quotes on building a habit from scratch.
- “Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions that solve the problems and stresses you face regularly.”
- “Habits are mental shortcuts learned from experience.”
- “Habits do not restrict freedom. They create it.”
- “The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.”
- “Your brain is a reward detector.”
Chapter 4: The Man Who Didn’t Look Right
- “Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.”
Chapter 5: The Best Way to Start a New Habit
- “No behavior happens in isolation. Each action becomes a cue that triggers the next behavior.”
- “Habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention.”
Chapter 6: Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More
- “People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are.”
- “Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”
- “You don’t have to be the victim of your environment. You can also be the architect of it.”
- “Environment design allows you to take back control and become the architect of your life. Be the designer of your world not merely the consumer of it.”
Chapter 7: The Secret to Self-Control
Did you know that people differ in their abilities to control themselves? This important aspect of the self is connected to your commitment to performing a good habit and ignoring a bad one.
The following quotes from Atomic Habits can give you a little hint:
- “The people with the best self-control are typically the ones who need to use it the least.”
- “Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten.”
Chapter 8: How to Make a Habit Irresistible

If you are looking for Atomic Habits examples and ways to make a habit tempting, then chapter 8 of this book is your go to!
- “Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop.”
- “It is the anticipation of reward-not the fulfillment of it that gets us to take action.”
Chapter 9: The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits
We often undermine the effect of family and friends on our ability to commit to good habits and eliminate bad ones. Thankfully, James Clear discusses this, and here are some Atomic Habits examples on the influence of friends and families:
- “The culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive to us.”
- “We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).”
Chapter 10: How to Find and Fix the Causes of Your Bad Habits
Fix your bad habits with the following best quotes from Atomic Habits which are mentioned in Chapter 10:
- “Living below your current means increases your future means.”
- “Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings.”
Chapter 11: Walk Slowly but Never Backward
- “The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.”
- “Focus on taking action, not being in motion.”
Chapter 12: The Law of Least Effort
- “Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.”
- “Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.”
Chapter 13: How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule

It is argued that the two-minute rule is one the best quotes from Atomic Habits that you could ever read:
- “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
- “The point is to master the habit of showing up.”
- “You have to standardize before you can optimize.”
Chapter 14: How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible
James Clear emphasizes the role of the environment in boosting our commitment to good habits and eliminating bad ones, and here are some Atomic Habits examples from chapter 14 for you to check:
- “Sometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about making bad habits hard.”
- “A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.”
Chapter 15: The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change
- “Pleasure teaches your brain that a behavior is worth remembering and repeating.”
- “The cardinal rule of behavior change: What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is avoided.”
- “The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.”
Chapter 16: How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day
Here are some more Atomic Habits book quotes to help you show up every day:
- “The mere act of tracking a behavior can spark the urge to change it.”
- “Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.”
- “Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.”
Chapter 17: How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything
- “We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.”
- “An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us.”
- “Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.”
Chapter 18: The Truth about Talent (when genes matter and when they don’t)
Once you read these quotes from Atomic Habits you will change your perspective on genes and their effect on your performance:
- “Genes do not determine your destiny. They determine your areas of opportunity.”
- “Specialization is a powerful way to overcome the “accident” of bad genetics.”
- “Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.”
Chapter 19: The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Work
- “The Goldilocks rule states that human experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities.”
- “You have to fall in love with boredom.”
- “Professionals stick to the schedule; armatures let life get in the way.”
Chapter 20: The Downside of Creating Good Habits
Systems are an integral part of this amazing book, and here we provide you with an Atomic Habit quote about systems from chapter 20:
- “Establish a system for reflection and review.”
- “Reflection and review offer an ideal time to revisit one of the most important aspects of behavior change: identity.”
- “A lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review are the antidote.”
- “Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery”
We reached the end of our blog post on quotes from Atomic Habits as we covered all the important captions and quotes from the book to help you refer to them easily. Keep following Read & Blog for more informative posts on books, quotes, and reading tips.