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Nature

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“Nature’s constantly screaming with all its shapes and scents: love each other! Love each other! Do as the flowers. There’s only love.” (Garden of Tortures)”
Octave Mirbeau (1848–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How oft in schoolboy-days, from the school's sway Have I run forth to Nature as to a friend, — With some pretext of o'erwrought sight, to spend My school-time in green meadows far away! Careless of summoning bell, or clocks that strike, I marked with flowers the minutes of my day.”
Frederick Goddard Tuckerman (1821–1873) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How oft in schoolboy-days" lines 1–6, Poems, 1860
“Reason, indeed, may oft complain For Nature's sad reality, And tell the suffering heart, how vain Its cherished dreams must always be; And Truth may rudely trample down The flowers of Fancy, newly-blown:”
Emily Brontë (1818–1848) said by 1848 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All things are hush'd, as Nature's self lay dead, The Mountains seem to nod their drowsy head; The little Birds in dreams their Songs repeat, And sleeping Flowers, beneath the night-dew sweat; Even Lust and Envy sleep.”
John Dryden (1631–1700) first seen 1667 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Indian Emperor (1667), Act III, sc. ii
“But not like this is Nature's face, Though even she must bear the trace Of the great curse that clings to all ; Her leaves, her flowers, must spring to fall :”
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) said by 1838 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When Nature gives a gorgeous rose, Or yields the simplest fern, She writes this motto on the leaves, — "To whom it may concern!" And so it is the poet comes And revels in her bowers, And, — though another hold the land, Is owner of the flowers.”
John Godfrey Saxe (1816–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It seemed odd to Joel that nature did not reflect so solemn an event: flowers of cotton-boll clouds within a sky as scandalously blue as kitten-eyes were offensive to their sweet disrespect.”
Truman Capote (1924–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a human being it is just my nature to enjoy and share philosophy. I do this in the same way that some birds are eagles and some doves, some flowers lilies and some roses.”
Alan Watts (1915–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Flowers, the sole luxury which nature knew, In Eden's pure and guiltless garden grew.[…] Gay without toil, and lovely without art, They spring to cheer the sense, and glad the heart.”
Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825) said by 1825 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Slow, slow, fresh fount, keep time with my salt tears: Yet, slower, yet; O faintly, gentle springs: List to the heavy part the music bears, Woe weeps out her division, when she sings. Droop herbs, and flowers, Fall grief in showers, Our beauties are not ours; O, I could still, Like melting snow upon some craggy hill, Drop, drop, drop, drop, Since nature's pride is now, a withered daffodil.”
Ben Jonson (1572–1637) first seen 1600 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cynthia's Revels (1600), Act I, scene i
“In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat; there is only movement. The winter struggles to reign supreme, but in the end is obliged to accept spring’s victory, which brings with it flowers and happiness.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People always say: ‘It’s inner beauty that matters, not outer beauty.’ Well, that’s not true. If it were, why would flowers put so much energy into attracting bees? And why would raindrops transform themselves into a rainbow when they encounter the sun? Because nature longs for beauty, and is only satisfied when beauty can be exalted.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nature made us individuals, as she did the flowers and the pebbles; but we are afraid to be peculiar, and so our society resembles a bag of marbles, or a string of mold candles. Why should we all dress after the same fashion? The frost never paints my windows twice alike." letters from ny wqadd”
Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880) first seen 1843 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter 38 (March 17, 1843)
“There at the moment in .. .Boudin and Jongkind are here; we get on marvelously. There's lots to be learned and nature begins to grow beautiful.. .I shall tell you I'm sending a flower picture to the exhibition at Rouen; there are very beautiful flowers at present.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in a letter to ; as cited in: Edward B. Henning, Cleveland Museum of Art. Creativity in art and science, 1860-1960. (1987), p. 95
“Always when we walked, it was clear to me how much he loved nature, wild flowers, animals in their natural habitat and the simple pleasures of a beautiful sunset. My love for the environment did not develop out of a vacuum.”
Lewis Pugh (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nature smiles by flowers.”
Juraj Jurjević wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was April. Nature followed its course and gradually began to cover the ugliness, the remnants of violence, with a veil of green and flowers.”
Chava Rosenfarb (1923–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have always loved nature and the outdoors. There is something grounding about life beyond tall towers and buildings. In the rural area, I can actually smell the flowers and feel my inner powers. Although I was raised in the city, the congestion of traffic lights and take out is not my thing”
Paulina Malulu (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His soul did not know the meaning of hate. Belonging, as one might say, to the vegetable kingdom, he accepted without protest the iniquities of man and the injustices of nature. Submerged in the water, or clinging to the stones, insult him as they might, he went on impassively yielding his fruits and his flowers, good plant that he was. ("Vicente Cochocho")”
Teresa de la Parra (1889–1936) said by 1936 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Once when the days were ages, And the old Earth was young, The high gods and the sages From Nature's golden pages Her open secrets wrung. Each questioned each to know Whence came the Heavens above, and whence the Earth below.”
Richard Henry Stoddard (1825–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is strange how few people make more than a casual cult of enjoying Nature. And yet the earth is actually and literally the mother of us all. One needs no strange spiritual faith to worship the earth.”
John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Only let us love God, and then nature will compass us about like a cloud of Divine witnesses; and all influences from the earth, and things on the earth, will be ministers of God to do us good. Only let there be God within us, and then every thing outside us will become a godlike help.”
William Mountford (1816–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If … the motion of the earth were circular, it would be violent and contrary to nature, and could not be eternal, since … nothing violent is eternal.… It follows, therefore, that the earth is not moved with a circular motion.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) first seen 1272 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Commentaria in libros Aristotelis de caelo et mundo (Commentary on Aristotle's On the Heavens, c. 1272–1273)
“And then, the Earth being small, mankind will migrate into space, and will cross the airless Saharas which separate planet from planet and sun from sun. The Earth will become a Holy Land which will be visited by pilgrims from all the quarters of the Universe. Finally, men will master the forces of Nature; they will become themselves architects of systems, manufacturers of worlds.”
William Winwood Reade (1838–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The gifts of the Earth are so precious and they are free. Mother Earth puts on a constant show and never charges admission. What I now see is incredible. I know that, as I continue to be in nature, I will be gifted with more and more sight.”
Linda Hogan (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I ’m on the sea! I ’m on the sea! I am where I would ever be, With the blue above and the blue below, And silence wheresoe’er I go.”
Bryan Procter (1787–1874) said by 1874 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sea, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Also quoted by: Bryan W. Procter
“Far out at sea,—the sun was high, While veer'd the wind and flapped the sail, We saw a snow-white butterfly Dancing before the fitful gale, Far out at sea.”
Richard Henry Horne (1802–1884) said by 1884 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Genius; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 88.
“Beside The grim old sea-king sits his bride, A sun-land blossom, rudely torn From tropic forests to be worn Above as stern a breast as e'er Stood king at sea or anywhere.”
Joaquin Miller (1837–1913) said by 1913 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you're between any kind of devil and the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea sometimes looks very inviting.”
Terence Rattigan (1911–1977) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Deep Blue Sea, Act I. (1952).
“The vastest point, the center, the infinity — Faëry, where the gigantic heroes ride across endless landscapes and sail sea upon sea and there is no end to possibility — that circle is so tiny it has no doors at all.”
John Crowley (1942–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the masc. [masculine] is the vertic. [vertical] line, then a man will recognize this element in the rising line of a forest; in the horizont. [horizontal] lines of the sea he will see his complement. Woman, with the horizont. line as element, sees herself in the recumbent lines of the sea, and her complement in the vert. lines of the forest.”
Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: [on his two paintings 'Sea' and 'Trees', both made in 1912
“The sea dancing, it's zig-zag movements and contrasting silver and emerald, evokes within my plastic sensibility the distant vision of a dancer covered in a sparkling sequins in her world of light, noise and sound. Therefore 'Sea = dancer' [= title of a painting he made in 1914]”
Gino Severini (1883–1966) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'The Plastic Analogies of Dynamism', c. 1914; as quoted in Inventing Futurism: The Art and Politics of Artificial Optimism, by Christine Poggi, Princeton University Press, 2009, p. 217
“For the last hundred years, the ocean has risen 20 cm — but for the previous hundred years the ocean also has risen 20 cm and for the last 300 years, the ocean has also risen 20 cm per 100 years. So there is no unusual rise in sea level. And to be sure you understand that I will repeat it. There is no unusual rise in sea level.”
Ivar Giaever (1929–2025) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nobel Prize-Winning Scientist Who Endorsed Obama Now Says Prez. is ‘Ridiculous’ & ‘Dead Wrong’ on ‘Global Warming’", Climate Depot, 6 July 2015
“I had a role in developing the doctrine From the Sea, which was later modified to Forward From the Sea. But the way we looked at the situation was that the world we live in is a dangerous place. There's a violent peace out there, there are going to be problems over the horizon, and certainly that proved to be true.”
Leighton W. Smith Jr. (1939–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the old days, the navigators used magic to make themselves strong, but now, nothing; they just pray. Before they leave and at sea, they pray. But I, I make myself strong by thinking—just by thinking! I make myself strong because I despise cowardice. Too many men are afraid of the sea. But I am a navigator.”
Mau Piailug (1932–2010) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Last Navigator (1987)
“All the diamonds in this world That mean anything to me Are conjured up by wind and sunlight sparkling on the sea I ran aground in a harbor town Lost the taste for being free Thank God he sent some gull chased ship To carry me to sea...”
Bruce Cockburn (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The true characteristic of all British strategy lies in the use of amphibious power. Not the sea alone, but the land and the sea together: not the Fleet alone, but the Army in the hand of the Fleet.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Great Amphibian, The Sunday Pictorial, 23 July 1916.
“We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown.”
T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices And the weak spirit quickens to rebel For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell.”
T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sail forth into the sea of life, O gentle, loving, trusting wife, And safe from all adversity Upon the bosom of that sea Thy comings and thy goings be! For gentleness and love and trust Prevail o'er angry wave and gust; And in the wreck of noble lives Something immortal still survives.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Moons waxed and waned, the lilacs bloomed and died, In the broad river ebbed and flowed the tide, Ships went to sea, and ships came home from sea, And the slow years sailed by and ceased to be.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Then there is the other secret. There isn't any symbolysm [sic]. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Bernard Berenson (13 September 1952); published in Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters 1917–1961 (1981) edited by Carlos Baker
“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A good watch may serve to keep a recconing at Sea for some days and to know the time of a Celestial Observ[at]ion: and for this end a good Jewel watch may suffice till a better sort of Watch can be found out. But when the Longitude at sea is once lost, it cannot be found again by any watch.”
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) first seen 1721 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Josiah Burchett (1721), quoted in Longitude (1995) by Dava Sobel, p. 60
“They went to sea in a sieve, they did; In a sieve they went to sea; In spite of all their friends could say.”
Edward Lear (1812–1888) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Jumblies", st. 1, in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871).
“The sea with an end can be Greek or Roman: the endless sea is Portuguese.”
Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling — my darling — my life and my bride, In her sepulcher there by the sea — In her tomb by the sounding sea.”
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life exists immersed in a sea of unconsciousness", he reminded himself. "In the drug, these people gain a view of that sea".”
Frank Herbert (1920–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The dying does not amount to much," he [Zog the Sea Monster] said; "it is the thinking about it that hurts you mortals most. I've watched many a shipwreck at sea, and the people would howl and scream for hours before the ship broke up. Their terror was very enjoyable. But when the end came they all drowned as peacefully as if they were going to sleep, so it didn't amuse me at all.”
L. Frank Baum (1856–1919) said by 1919 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The people had fled at our approach, except for an old woman too feeble to move... We burned down the thatched huts, starting the blaze with Ronson and Zippo cigarette lighters... [because] Ho Chi Minh had said the people were like the sea in which his guerrillas swam... We tried to solve the problem by making the whole sea uninhabitable.”
Colin Powell (1937–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source