Permanent ink is forever, and these compelling tattoo quotes will stay with you for a lifetime.
It feels like tattoos are everywhere these days.
They have become a normal part of every day life.
Although people with tattoos used to be looked down upon greatly in the past, tattooing has become an acceptable part of modern culture.
If you do not understand the fascination with body art, you might be wondering just what motivates people to get inked – and to endure the pain that comes with it.
People are drawn to tattoos for many different reasons.
Most people get tattoos that have meaning behind them.
It could be to honor someone or something, to celebrate their fandoms, or to remind them where they came from and what to live by.
For some people, tattoos are a piece of artwork.
It’s a fashion statement.
A way for them to express themselves and create their own identity.
So, if you decide to get inked, for whatever reason, be proud of it.
Everyone is free to express themselves, and people with tattoos chose for their expression to be through body art.
They chose to make their body a work of art, a canvas with endless possibilities to put on it.
Below is our collection of inspirational, meaningful, and powerful tattoo quotes, tattoo sayings, and tattoo proverbs, collected from a variety of sources over they years.
Tattoo Quotes That Will Leave Their Permanent Mark On You
1. “Our bodies were printed as blank pages to be filled with the ink of our hearts.” – Michael Biondi
2. “My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my story.” ― Johnny Depp
3. “Tattoos, for me, are like a timeline of my life. I could look at a certain tattoo, and it reminds of me of a certain time in my life and why I got that tattoo.” – Tyga
4. “Tattoos are a permanent commitment of passion.” ― Tawny Lara
5. “If you like how people look when they’re all covered in tattoos, then you should be covered in tattoos.” – Lil Peep
6. “Tattoos … are the stories in your heart, written on your skin.” – Charles De Lint
7. “I am a canvas of my experiences, my story is etched in lines and shading, and you can read it on my arms, my legs, my shoulders, and my stomach.” ― Kat Von D
8. “I want my tattoos to be a story of my life.” – Anne-Marie
9. “Usually all my tattoos came at good times. A tattoo is something permanent when you’ve made a self-discovery, or something you’ve come to a conclusion about.” – Angelina Jolie
10. “Show me a man with a tattoo and I’ll show you a man with an interesting past.” ― Jack London
Tattoo quotes for those who want their bodies to be a canvas
11. “Tattoos are like stories – they’re symbolic of the important moments in your life. Sitting down, talking about where you got each tattoo and what it symbolizes, is really beautiful.” – Pamela Anderson
12. “I’m from a nice, suburban, middle-class family, but my tattoos remind me where I’ve been.” – Tom Hardy
13. “I want a tattoo over my heart that reads TRY HARDER YOU LAZY PARAMEDIC SHITBAG OR I WILL HAUNT YOUR BEDROOM FOREVER” ― Warren Ellis
14. “Tattoos have a power and magic all their own. They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul.” – Michelle Delio
15. “Our bodies were printed as blank pages to be filled with the ink of our hearts.” ― Michael Biondi
16. “Some of my tattoos are a bit silly, but I know where and what time I got them.” – Ed Sheeran
17. “I think tattoos are a way to express yourself without words. Without having to explain yourself, people can look at your tattoos and see who you are.” – Jodi Morgan
18. “Getting a tattoo is a nice way of reclaiming your own body, to help tell yourself that you’re in charge.” – Ashley Love
19. “For me, a tattoo is an art installation that I get to wear all the time. It’s all about self-expression. You get to wear your insides on your outsides.” – Malia Jones
20. “My tattoos have become a part of me. When I look in the mirror, I just see my face.” – Lil Peep
If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of Lil Peep quotes about love, life, and music.
Tattoo quotes celebrating body art
21. “My tattoos are a source of strength — they crystalize what’s important to me in life. I’m a big believer in the power of symbols and how they can hold meaning and memories.” – Eleni Stefanou
22. “I look at tattoos as a commitment to life.” – Jeff Hardy
23. “A word to the wise, a tattoo is obviously for life, so make sure you’ve triple-checked for typos and spelling errors.” – Lucy Alice Morris
24. “I like tattoos. I’m gonna be covered. I’m not going to touch my face or under the chin on the neck: it’s my least favorite place.” – Mac Miller
25. “Tattoos tell the world we’ve still got something to say.” – Liz Jones
26. “They keep track of time. Sometimes things happen and you feel that you need to mark them down.” ― Scott O’Connor
27. “Good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good.” – Josephine Fuller
28. “To me, tattoos are a way of people being able to express themselves and have other people look at them and get a little insight into who they are, without ever even saying a word to them.” – Colin Kaepernick
29. “If I decide to get a tattoo, it’ll be a map of where I live on my chest in case I ever get amnesia.” ― Stewart Stafford
30. “People are proud of their tattoos. It’s like a modern coat of arms.” – Christian Louboutin
Tattoo quotes to honor self expression
31. “With my tattoos, I’ve got my war side on my left side, being left handed, and a faith side on my right side, right with God.” – Jalen Rose
32. “I love math. I have little secret number tattoos everywhere. I design them.” – Pauley Perrette
33. “The tattooed man has solidified his own skin and become that solid object; that permanent identity that all men in fear of the amorphous become.” – Donold Richie
34. “You don’t choose your tattoo design, your tattoo chooses you!” ― Shirin Naghashlou
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of design quotes that will get your creativity flowing.
35. “I look at my body as an extension of the music. My body is a canvas, and with my tattoos, I want them to be a direct reflection of my thoughts.” – Lil Skies
36. “I’m addicted to tattoos. I can’t stop; I love them.” – Adrianne Palicki
37. “So many people always fear tattoos because they don’t want to limit themselves from certain jobs. I clearly never let that stop me and just got covered head to toe.” – Jeffree Star
38. “Tattoos fulfill a need to inscribe the self as an individual.” – Margo Demello
39. “We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
40. “Tattoos give us the inspiration to be ourselves.” ― Anthony T.Hincks
Tattoo quotes that will inspire you to create your own identity
41. “I do have a few little tattoos, but they were mostly done to cover scars because I’m so fair.” – Dolly Parton
42. “If people are honest with themselves when they choose a tattoo, the art will represent them better than anything that will ever come out of their mouth.” – Troy Holloway
43. “The ink of a pen is simply the blood of a heart” ― Michael Biondi
44. “I was just a big fan of tattoos always growing up, and I wanted something cool that symbolizes what I’ve been through in my life, and everything on my chest and my back is like a collage.” – Kevin Durant
45. “Tattoos made my skin more ‘me.’” ― Larry Smith
46. “The tattoos are about my grandmother dying, and they tell the story about my mother and father, my brothers and my sister, my kids. It’s pretty much a family tree on my arm with my life in football, too.” – Timothy F. Cahill
47. “My tattoos are reminders to hang in there when things get tough.” – Demi Lovato
48. “Tattoos have a power and magic all their own. They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul.” – Michelle Delio
49. “If the body is a temple, then tattoos are its stained glass windows.” – Sylvia Plath
50. “A tattoo is an affirmation: that this body is yours to have and to enjoy while you’re here. Nobody else can control what you do with it.” – Don Ed Hardy
51. “Comparatively, tattooing is not the hideous custom which it is called. It is not barbarous merely because the printing is skin-deep and unalterable.” – Henry David Thoreau
52. “A quote is just a tattoo on the tongue.” – William F. DeVault
Tattoo quotes to fit your unique thoughts on body art
53. “Tattoos made my skin more ‘me’.” — Melissa Maxwell
54. “Getting a tattoo should hurt. It’s a rite of passage.” — Jenna Jameson
55. “Tattoos exude pain and pleasure all at the same time.” — Chester Bennington
56. “Tattoos transform us from raw animals into cooked cultural beings.” — Claude Lévi-Strauss
57. “Tattoos are permanent and a lifelong commitment, the same as marriage.” — Chester Bennington
58. “Books are to me as homemade tattoos are to an inmate. Can’t get enough of them.” ― Laurie Notaro
59. “Tattooing is about personalizing the body, making it a true home and fit temple for the spirit that dwells inside it.” — Michelle Delio
60.“Tattoos set you apart. Besides being a colorful accessory to any ensemble, they convince your parents once and for all that you are a lost cause.” — Amy Linden
61. “The tattoo represents not only a willingness to accept pain — to endure it — but a need to actively embrace it. Because life is painful — beautiful but painful.” — Nicola Barker
62. “I read somewhere that getting a tattoo, “is a journey, not a destination.” Maybe as we travel life’s roads, we just need to trust the journey a little bit more, even when we aren’t quite sure as to how all the pieces of the puzzle will come together.” — Suzanna Parpos
Tattoo quotes about this body art form
63. “I like my feet. I have a tattoo on my foot with my last name.” — Caity Lotz
64. “I wouldn’t want a tattoo at all. They’re difficult to cover up.” — Richard Armitage
65. “I have a tattoo that I got in Memphis, and another I got in Dayton.” — Colin Donnell
66. “My tattoo is a phoenix. I got the first when I was 16. I hid it for years.” — Ashley Scott
67. “My tattoo is of a cannon in Vancouver that I got in a fleeting moment of stupidity maybe 14 years ago.” — Ryan Reynolds
68. “If you’re over 22, getting a tattoo and you don’t do work that involves tools you should be ashamed of yourself!” — Sean Lock
69. “Anyone who’s had a tattoo knows once you get your first one, as you’re walking out the door, you’re planning the next.” — Chris Evans
70. “I can’t make a song for a particular person or demographic. If I love it, I’m gonna do it. I have to perform it for the rest of my life. A song is like a tattoo – you can never get away from it.” — Rihanna
71. “I have a tattoo on my foot that says ‘it’s a whale’ in Japanese, because Japanese people kill whales. My stuffed whale was like most children’s teddy bear. I took it with me everywhere. I slept with it. I couldn’t live without my whale.” — Skylar Grey
72. “One of the first pieces of advice I was ever given, on my first job was, you should always buy something to treat yourself to say well done for getting the job! However I’ve not followed through on that yet… I’ve always wanted a tattoo, something to mark my experience.” — Sam Claflin
Get inked with these tattoo quotes
73. Keep choosing joy
74. See the good
75. Perfectly imperfect
76. Fighter
77. Breathe
78. Courage, dear heart
79. Live fearlessly
80. Warrior
81. Be still
82. And still I rise
Tattoo quotes and why people love them
83. “The tattoos, they were just something to do.” –Robert Parish
84. “Tattoos are addicting, and I used to have this tribal tattoo, but I was never really happy with it.” –Randy Orton
85. “I just like tattoos.” –Amy Winehouse
86. “Tattoos are addictive.” –Bradley Beal
87. “I love tattoos.” –Wiz Khalifa
88. “People see the tattoos, and they either read things or they see things and they don’t really know that I’m just this guy that gets up and makes coffee in the morning and hangs out with his friends and walks his dog and reads his Bible and goes about his day.” –Joel Madden
89. “In high school, I used to draw on my arms with a Sharpie. I knew I was gonna have a lot of tattoos.” –Odell Beckham, Jr
90. “There is something vulnerable about showing your tattoos to people, even while it gives you a feeling that you are wearing a sleeve when you are naked.” –Lena Dunham
91. “There is something in the act of having tattoos done that I love. It can be quite addictive.” –Lena Headey
92. “As soon as I saw tattoos as a way to tell your story, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I totally get it.’ So I got my first tattoo a couple of years ago, and it’s the word ‘hope’ on my left arm. It has a couple of dots at the end for each of my kids.” –Kristian Bush
More Tattoo Quotes And Sayings
93. “Maybe that’s what I needed. Another tattoo. Some pain on the outside to ease the pain on the inside.” ― N.R. Walker
94. “Scars are the tattoos your despondence carved once…” ― shivangi lavaniya
95. “I’ll become someone new. Through blood and pain and ink, I can be remade.” ― Alice Broadway
96. “In tattooing, linework is arguably the most important element. Lines form the basis of our sketches and the stencils used to apply the artwork to the skin.” ― Shelly Dax
97. “I’ve got tattoos, I’m a subculture. Some kind of post-teen bag lady, that’s me.” ― Salman Rushdie
98. “Two teenage boys have tattoos on their necks, instantly halving the alienation they’d hoped to achieve.” ― Samantha Hunt
99. “Your art is creating your future.” ― Cary G
100. “Affiliating tattoos with hipsters would be giving hipsters too much credit.” ― A.D. Aliwat
101. “I don’t have any myself,” Mia said, her voice slow and deliberate. “But I’ve always found tattoos sexy.” ― Katherine McIntyre
102. “She had a flower tattoo on her wrist; “What does that mean?” he asked her. “Absolutely nothing,” she said, “it’s just a flower.” ― C. JoyBell C
Tattoo Quotes From Famous Professionals
103. “The one in the movie is not real, but my Casper tattoo is real, and it is my only one.” — Casper Van Dien
104. “I have Bob Dylan lyrics on my ribs. I’m a diehard Dylan fan, and my dad and I joke that if I ever met him, I’d have him sign his name right under my tattoo and then I’d run to the parlor to get his signature tattooed.” — Carly Chaikin
105. “Some songs are just like tattoos for your brain… you hear them and they’re affixed to you.” — Carlos Santana
106. “Getting a tattoo would probably make me cry.” — Calvin Trillin
107. “You have to have your face in the food. These days people think a tattoo and a bottle of Sriracha equals success.” — Bobby Flay
108. “I probably have the crappiest tattoo — not only in country music — but maybe the world.” — Blake Shelton
109. “I’m celebrating my love for you with a pint of beer and a new tattoo.” — Billy Bragg
110. “What’s funny is my husband doesn’t have any tattoos at all, so he must be a very conservative one.” — Ashley Scott
111. “I go through stages. Randomly, I’ll be attracted to a crazy rocker with tattoos. And I find that I’m extremely attracted to ambition and wit.” — Ashley Greene
112. “The tattoo can only exist as part of the skin, as a drawing always is an incision in the material and therefore cannot be parted from it.” — Antoni Tapies
Tattoo Quotes To Make You Embrace Art
113. “I feel like the last tattoo you got is usually your favorite.” — Nico Tortorella
114. “Although my everyday artwork is tattoo oriented, I definitely do not try to limit my art or art mediums.” — William Webb
115. “Tattooing is historical, cultural and a great form of art but it should always be safe for both the client and the tattoo practitioner.” — William Webb
116. “My tattoo is a cross, a rose and a shark. A cross is a cross, a rose like love and a shark is a pretty tough animal.” — Goran Ivanisevic
117. “I got tattoos for purely antisocial reasons, and now people do it for social acceptance. I miss individualism.” — Mike Ness
118. “You have to think hard with a tattoo. ‘What will I love for the rest of my life?’” — Kate Upton
119. “But for me, to get the tattoo was part of moving into adulthood. Making a choice that is permanent and that I’ll have to stick with.” — Francois Arnaud
120. “My dad is a little Scottish guy with tattoos all over his arms.” — Scott Raab
121. “It’s more likely I’ll dye my hair green, get a bunch of tattoos and go on tour with Amy Winehouse.” — Mike Huckabee
122. “I’m a big fan of zombies, and I have a zombie tattoo on my leg.” — Tyler Posey
Which of these tattoo quotes was your favorite?
Tattoos have become a normal part of modern culture.
They are being worn by celebrities, athletes, people within the fashion industry, and everyone around us.
Although they cannot change who you are, tattoos can help you create your identity, boost your confidence, and make you feel good about yourself.
Hopefully, the quotes above have inspired you to be your true yourself.
Did you enjoy these tattoo quotes?
Which of the quotes was your favorite?
Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.