California holds a special place in the hearts of many.
Not just because of its scenic beauty, incredible weather and diverse cities but also because of the kind Californians that call this place home.
Join me as we explore why, through the words of poets, writers and dreamers, California isn’t just a state – it’s pure heaven.
As if you need any more reasons to fall in love with California but, if you do, then here’s 81 more.
Quotes About California
- “California is a place of invention, a place of courage, a place of vision, a place of the future. People who made California what it is were willing to take risks, think outside convention and build.” – Nicolas Berggruen
- “California: where the sun kisses the ocean and dreams touch the sky.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “If they can’t do it in California, it can’t be done anywhere.” – Taylor Caldwell
- “California, where the spring comes in the fall and the fall comes in the summer and the summer comes in the winter and the winter never comes at all.” – Inez Haynes Irwin
- “I love driving; driving along the California coastline is the best drive in the world.” – Al Jardine
- “I’m your biggest fan, California, I’m coming home.” – Joni Mitchell, ‘California’
- “One day if I go to heaven… I’ll look around and say ‘It ain’t bad. But it ain’t San Francisco.” – Herb Caen
- “There’s a magic in California’s air, one that whispers of possibilities and new beginnings.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “We only have two kinds of weather in California, magnificent and unusual.” – James M Cain
- “I’d rather be in prison in California than free anywhere else.” – Inez Haynes Irwin
- “Growing up in northern California has had a big influence on my love and respect for the outdoors. When I lived in Oakland, we would think nothing of driving to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz one day and then driving to the foothills of the Sierras the next day.” – Tom Hanks
- “Secretly, I think everyone who makes fun of California really does want to be in California.” – Zooey Deschanel
- “From the serenity of its beaches to the majesty of its mountains, California is nature’s playground.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “California has a beautiful coastline. It can be a rough coastline. The waves are huge. The rocks are steep. Same thing in Vancouver. It has a beautiful coastline. It’s dramatic.” – Jennifer Granholm
- “No city invites the heart to come to life as San Francisco does. Arrival in San Francisco is an experience in living.” – William Saroyan
- “California: bordering always on the Pacific and sometimes on the ridiculous. So, why do I live here? Because the sun goes down a block from my house.” – George Carlin
- “Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible.” – Walter Cronkite
- “It’s the easiest thing in the world to get to California – you just aim yourself west and start walking.” – Rae Carson
- “In Los Angeles, everyone is a star.” – Denzel Washington
- “The two girls grew up at the edge of the ocean and knew it was paradise, and better than Eden, which was only a garden.” – Eve Babitz
- “San Francisco itself is art…every block is a short story, every hill a novel, every home a poem.” – William Saroyan
- “In the heart of every Californian, there lies a love for the endless blue skies that crown their golden state.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “I always said that if I moved to California, I’d live by the ocean.” – Bob Baffert
- “Whether they’re for good or bad, all trends in the United States start in California.” – Steve Schmidt
- “In California in the early Spring, there are pale yellow mornings, when the mist burns slowly into day, the air stings like autumn, clarifies like pain. Well, I have dreamed this coast myself.” – Robert Hass
- “When I came to Los Angeles, it was the first time that I ever felt like I belonged somewhere.” – Jennifer Love Hewitt
- “She stood there bright as the sun on that California coast.” – Bob Seger, ‘Hollywood Nights’
- “San Francisco is a complex town that lets you be yourself, that accepts you even if your family doesn’t.” – Jack Boulaware
- “The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I’m here.” — Billy Graham
- “Darling, in LA, you decide who you are. Every neighborhood has its own culture and population. Once you find the right one for you, you’re home. Los Angeles is a way of life.” – Cara Dee
- “California is a place where you can be anybody you want to be.” – Glenn Frey
- “You wouldn’t think such a place as San Francisco could exist. The wonderful sunlight there, the hills, the great bridges, the Pacific at your shoes.” – Dylan Thomas
- “San Francisco has only one drawback: ’tis hard to leave.” – Rudyard Kipling
- “California is always in my mind.” – David Hockney
- “This is the California that men dreamed of years ago, this is the Pacific that Balboa looked at from the Peak of Darien, this is the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look.” – Henry Miller
- “California’s charm lies in its ability to make you feel at home, whether you’re walking through its bustling cities or its peaceful forests.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “There is more grace per square foot in San Francisco than any place on earth.” – Fulton J. Sheen
- “Los Angeles is a very magical place when you take the entertainment industry out of it. You have beautiful beaches and amazing mountains here. I’m a big rock climber. I head out into the mountains whenever I have free time. It’s amazing.” – Alex Pettyfer
- “When I came to California, it was the mecca of the world. Every young person on the planet wanted to be there.” – Joni Mitchell
- “I just realized some things make me happier, and the good weather in California makes me happier.” – Bianca Balti
- “If New York is the city that never sleeps, then Los Angeles is the city that’s always passed out on the couch.” – Paul Beatty
- “Life in California is beautiful.” – Oscar Nunez
- “I am very lucky to live in California, which is not only filled with very entrepreneurial people who don’t wait around for success, but who make their own.” – Benjamin Stone
- “In Los Angeles, you can have the city life and feel like you’re on holiday at the same time.” – Isabel Marant
- “If you’re alive, you can’t be bored in San Francisco. If you’re not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life.” – William Saroyan
- “Growing up in Northern California, I’ve only seen snow at Christmas maybe twice in my life! I was always jealous of my cousins on the East Coast with their white Christmases.” – Guy Fieri
- “Every time I come, I’m still amazed at the breadth California has. Big Sur, Yosemite, the desert… I love it.” – Theo James
- “My thoughts about California are kind of mythological. To me, as well as being a real place, it’s a place where people go to find something – to find happiness or to realize their dreams.” – Colin Hay
- “In the heart of California, the impossible seems just a little bit more possible.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel. Every home a poem, every dweller within immortal. That is the whole truth.” – William Saroyan
- “California is where you get to start over.” – Tracy Chevalier
- “One of the things I had a hard time getting used to when I came to California in ’78 was Santa Claus in shorts.” – Dennis Franz
- “Los Angeles is the Great Gatsby of American cities.” – Kevin Starr
- “So won’t you carry me back to California? I’ve been on the road too long.” – Carole King
- “I’m just mad for San Francisco. It is like London and Paris stacked on top of each other.” – Twiggy
- “California has everything it needs to be successful: world-class universities, pioneering innovators, diverse cultures, vast resources and people working hard to build a better future.” – Kevin Faulconer
- “Los Angeles gives one the feeling of the future more strongly than any city I know of.” – Henry Miller
- “Made up my mind to make a new start, going to California with an aching in my heart.” – Led Zeppelin, ‘Going to California’
- “Everything is just better in California – the wine, the food, fruits and vegetables, the comforts of living.” – Beth Anderson
- “San Franciscans are very proud of their city, and they should be. It’s the most beautiful place in the world.” – Robert Redford
- “Nature. That’s the one thing that tips the balance in terms of living here in California. Within minutes, I can be in a desert, at the ocean, in a park, and that’s the most nourishing food for my soul.” – Lara Pulver
- “Santa Barbara is pleasant. It’s heaven, but with a bit more traffic.” – Matt Hai
- “For me, California is all about rest, relaxation, space.” – Karen O.
- “When California was wild, it was the floweriest part of the continent.” – John Muir
- “If there was any other place I would live, other than Miami, it would be California. It’s beautiful. The weather is just gorgeous, I love being here too.” – Jon Secada
- “Move to California. Malibu is paradise.” – David Geffen
- “While I’m in LA, I always make time for my favorite activity which is hiking. The trails in California are amazing, as they are always challenging, and I never get bored from all the beautiful scenery.” – Dylan Lauren
- “California to me as a concept or as an idea always seems like endless optimism and endless opportunity – when people think of California they think of palm trees and blue skies and gorgeous sunsets and beaches and everything else.” – Mark Hoppus
- “I’m not really a Hollywood person. Not that I don’t like LA, but I’m just a Northern California guy.” – Clint Eastwood
- “In California, the mountains meet the sea and our spirits soar freely.” – Traveller’s Elixir
- “I think Northern California is the most beautiful place on earth. And I adore New Orleans, but there’s something about the air in San Francisco, for instance. It changes from moment to moment, like one’s thoughts.” – Hilton Als
- “I love the Latin neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It’s like traveling all over Latin America without ever leaving LA.” – Mauricio Cienfuegos
- “I think maybe LA or San Francisco could be rushed, but Sacramento is just laid back!” – Nick Johnson
- “There are so many different challenges California has; it’s the greatest state in the greatest country in the world. Hasta la vista, baby!” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “My favorite drive is Highway 101 in California between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. I love the 101; Highway 1 is too windy, and 5 is too boring – the 101 is just right. It’s like the Mama Bear of scenic drives.” – Art Alexakis
- “I think California has the best energy.” – Kevin Gates
- “Myths that need clarification: “Everyone in California lives on a white, sandy beach.” False. The only people who live on California beaches are vacationers from Arizona, Utah, and Nevada who own condos.”- Erma Bombeck
- “I live on the beautiful Northern California coast. I have always loved hiking, whale watching and being outdoors.” – Christine Feehan
- “California is an unbelievable state. One day I might be in a spiritual place like Joshua Tree, then before I know it, I’m eating groovy sushi in a mini-mall. I’m a Cali girl through and through.” – Drew Barrymore
- “My California sunrise, there’s a real mist in the air. I think of the mountains. You can smell the farm fields. You can smell the dirt and the lights and the whole sun.” – Jon Pardi
- “California teaches us that in diversity there is beauty, and in its vastness, a place for everyone’s dreams.” – Traveller’s Elixir
And that’s it!
Those are the best quotes about our beautiful Golden State.