Word tattoos: snippets and phrases to inspire your tattoo

It is known that tattooing is the art of eternalizing meanings on the skin and so, engraving words on the body is a way to make palpable and eternal the written translation of certain feelings, moments and personal thoughts.

According to the tattooist Daniel Galdino Phrases and words are great tattoo options, as they are direct in expressing what we want to convey.

However, in some cases, a few words are not enough to express everything you want and you may feel the need to tattoo a longer excerpt.

Check below some more tips from tattoo artist Daniel Galdino to not make a mistake with your written tattoo and see suggestions for phrases and longer passages to tattoo or inspire yours.

Tips and important details

Tattoo artist Daniel says that any tattoo (in design or writing) is a very personal thing. “Only the owner of the tattoo knows the full meaning of it.” According to him, musical and biblical passages are among the most tattooed styles.

When choosing your phrase or excerpt, you need to pay attention to the meaning it has for you (regardless of whether or not it is understandable to others) and also think about the best font to complete the look of your tattoo.

An important tip given by tattoo artist Daniel is to choose fonts that have a considerable space between the letters, because with time the skin ages and the tattoo ages along with it, and it can get a blurry aspect in the future.

Ideas and inspirations

Check out 50 suggestions for longer phrases and snippets to tattoo or get inspired when choosing what to have written on your tattoo:

Romantic

• “Love is big and fits in this window over the sea. The sea is big and fits in the bed and mattress of loving. Love is great and fits in the brief space of kissing.” – Carlos Drummond
• “Love Is A Force You Can’t Control.” (Love is a force you can’t control)
• “Somewhere I’ll find someone who’s going nowhere and will go there together.” (Somewhere I’ll find someone who’s going nowhere and we’ll go there together.)
• Love suffers all, believes all, hopes all, endures all, love never ends.
• “What the heart once owned, it shall never lose.” (What the heart once owned, it shall never be lost.)
• “Our paths may change as life goes on but the bond between us is always strong.” (Our paths may change as life goes on but our bond will always be strong.)

Inspirational phrases

• “Wonders have never lacked in the world; what is always lacking is the ability to feel and admire them.” – Mario Quintana
• “The secret is not to run after the butterflies… It is to tend the garden so that they come to you.” – Mario Quintana
• “And suddenly life turns you inside out and you discover that the inside out is its right side.”- Caio Fernando de Abreu
• “Dream as if you were going to live forever live as if you were going to die tomorrow.”
• “Let’s live our dreams, we have so little time…”
• “It is the time of the crossing: and, if we do not dare to do it, we will have remained, forever, at the margin of ourselves.”- Fernando Pessoa
• “Tomorrow is too far for those who do not have eternity.”
• “Life has the color you paint it.”
• “May my courage be greater than my fear and my strength be as great as my faith.” – Marisa Pereira

Excerpts from works

• “When I look into your eyes I see something that money can’t buy.” (When I look into your eyes I see something that money can’t buy) – Justin Timberlake
• “And in the end, the love you take is the love you make – The Beatles
• “The ones we love never truly leave us.” (The ones we love never truly leave us.) – Harry Potter
• “Some infinities are bigger than others” – The Fault in the Stars
• “The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” (The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.) – Who are you Alaska?
• “What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?” – Katherine’s Theorem
• “And may my madness be forgiven, because half of me is love and so is the other half.” – Oswaldo Montenegro
• “How could you know what happiness is if you never experienced the falls?” – PS. I love you
• “I make myself a house of good feelings where bad faith does not make an abode and wickedness does not breed” – Forfun
• “Sans toi, les émotions d’aujourd’hui ne seraient que la peau d’morte des émotions autrefois.” (Without you, today’s emotions would be just remnants of past emotions.) – The Fabulous Fate of Amélie Poulain
• “Les temps sont durs pour les rêveurs.” (They are hard times for dreamers.) – The Fabulous Fate of Amélie Poulain

Religious

• “Always reject me, rule me, enlighten me, Amen.”
• “In the day when I fear, I will trust in You.” – Psalm 56:3
• “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” – Psalms 91:2
• “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4
• “Strength and honor are your clothing, and you will rejoice in the day to come.” – Proverbs 31:25
• “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” – Psalms 23:4

In English

• “Find out what makes you happy, and fight for it.” (Find out what makes you happy, and fight for it.)
• “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” (A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.)
• “All good things are wild and free.” (All good things are free and wild.)
• “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” (The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams) – Oprah Winfrey
• “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” (All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.) – Edgar Allen Poe
• “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” (Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.)
• “Let your past make you better not bitter.” (Let your past make you better not bitter.)
• “Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” (Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.)
• “Maybe she’s just different from the others.” (Maybe she’s just different from the others.)
• “Have you done enough today to earn the right to live tomorrow?”
• “Every saint has a past every sinner has a future?” – Oscar wilde
• “Keep looking up there may be a rainbow waiting for you.
• “To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong.” (To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong.) – Joseph Chilton Pearce
• “My life is my art. My art is my life.” (My life is my art. My art is my life.)

In Latin

• “Hoc non pereo habebo fortior me” (What does not kill me makes me stronger.)
• “Alis volat propiis” (Fly with your own wings.)
• “Drago dormiens nunquam titillandus.” (One should not tickle a sleeping dragon.)
• “Te faber est suae fortunae.” (You are the architect of your own destiny.)

Beautiful written tattoos for inspiration

In addition to phrase ideas, check out amazing images of written and long tattoos to get inspired.