Happy first day of spring! Today is the vernal equinox, which ushers in a time of renewal and growth as trees grow green around us and flowers bloom. Celebrate with these inspirational quotes about how to best feel like "spring."

In 2018, the spring equinox occurs at 12:15 p.m. EDT in the northern hemisphere. During this time, the sun will move directly over the earth's equator and signal the first day of the astronomical spring, versus the meteorological spring. These are the two ways to measure the seasons: the astronomical way reflects natural phenomena to mark time, while the meteorological way is based on the annual temperature cycle as well as our 12-month calendar.

The meteorological spring begins on March 1, and the meteorological spring always occurs during the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 19, 20, or 21 every year, writes DateAndTime.com. The spring equinox is one of the four seasonal astronomical events that affect the earth. The others include the summer solstice, the autumnal equinox, and the winter solstice.

Celebrate the spring season with these inspirational quotes:

1. "You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming." ― Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet-diplomat and politician

2. "It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart." ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist

3. "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." — Anne Bradstreet, poet in early English North American colonies

4. "The deep roots never doubt spring will come." — Marty Rubin, author of the The Boiled Frog Syndrome

5. "That is one good thing about this world... there are always sure to be more springs." — L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables

6. "People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself." — Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

7. "April hath put a spirit of youth in everything." ― William Shakespeare, Sonnet XCVIII

8. "Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders." — Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, philosopher

9. "Sit quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself." — Zen saying

10. "I believe in process. I believe in four seasons. I believe that winter’s tough, but spring’s coming. I believe that there’s a growing season. And I think that you realize that in life, you grow. You get better." — Steve Southerland, American politician