From their transformative life cycle to their ethereal beauty and symbolic significance, butterflies have beguiled people throughout history. In this post, we’ll explore some butterfly quotes, proverbs, and sayings from throughout the ages. And if you’d like to learn more butterfly symbolism, mythology, and spiritual meanings, please visit my post on butterfly meanings. Enjoy!
Table of Contents
1. “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. “We are all butterflies. Earth is our chrysalis.”– LeeAnn Taylor
3. “This magnificent butterfly finds a little heap of dirt and sits still on it; but man will never on his heap of mud keep still.” – Joseph Conrad
4. “Butterflies are not insects,” Captain John Sterling said soberly. “They are self-propelled flowers.” – Robert A. Heinlein, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
5. “I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?” – Zhuangzi
6. “The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.” – Rabindranath Tagore
7. “You do not just wake up and become the butterfly – growth is a process.” – Rupi Kaur, The Sun and Her Flowers
8. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.” – Muhammad Ali
9. “I almost wish we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days, three such days with you I could fill with more delight than 50 common years could ever contain.” – John Keats
10. “Hundreds of butterflies flitted in and out of sight like short-lived punctuation marks in a stream of consciousness without beginning or end.” – Haruki Murakami
11. “Butterflies… flowers that fly and all but sing.” – Robert Frost
12. “In flew influence, and out fluttered humility. Be like a butterfly and a flower – beautiful and sought after, yet unassuming and gentle.” – Jarod Kintz
13. “Butterflies are nature’s angels. They remind us what a gift it is to be alive.” – Robyn Nola
14. “If nothing ever changed, there would be no such things as butterflies.” – Wendy Mass, The Candymakers
15. “Butterflies are self-propelled flowers.” – Robert Heinlein
16. “A butterfly flaps its wings in the quietest moments, reminding us of the power of even the smallest actions.” – Dean Jackson
17. “They say that if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rainforest, it can change the weather half a world away.” – Catherine McKenzie
18. “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach
19. “Kiss full of color, makes me wonder where you’ve always been / I was hiding in doubt ’til you brought me out of my chrysalis… Now I remember what it feels like to fly / You give me butterflies… – Kacey Musgraves, “Butterflies”
20. “Go on hitch a ride on the back of a butterfly / There’s no better way to fly / To get to me…” – Train, “Get to Me”
21. “How does one become a butterfly? You have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.” – Trina Paulus
22. “The butterfly said to the sun, ‘They can’t stop talking about my transformation. I can only do it once in my lifetime. If only they knew, they can do it at any time and in countless ways.'” – Dodinsky
23. “Butterflies are but flowers that blew away one sunny day when Nature was feeling at her most inventive and fertile.” – George Sand
24. “May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun, and find your shoulder to light on, to bring you luck, happiness, and riches today, tomorrow and beyond.” – Irish Prayer
25. “When the butterfly flits about, joy is on its way.” – Romanian Proverb
26. “To catch a butterfly, don’t run after it. Rather, sit down and it will land on you.” – Malagasy Proverb
27. “Butterflies don’t know the color of their wings, but human eyes know how beautiful it is.” – Iranian Proverb
28. “A butterfly that flies in the morning will not know the beauty of the evening.” – Yoruba Proverb
29. “Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.” – Naya Rivera
30. “Social butterfly” – Refers to a person who is outgoing and sociable, but the interactions might be superficial.
31. “Butterflies in the stomach” – Describes feeling nervous or anxious usually before an important event or when experiencing strong emotions like love or excitement.
32. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” – Coined by Muhammad Ali, this saying refers to being light and agile, yet powerful and impactful.
33. “Butterfly effect” – Derived from chaos theory, it suggests that a small action or event can have far-reaching and significant consequences.
34. “Butterfly kisses” – Describes gentle and light kisses, often given with the fluttering of eyelashes, conveying affection and tenderness.
35. “Butterfly mind” – Describes a person who has a tendency to have a wandering or easily distracted mind. 36. “Butterfly hunt” – Refers to a futile or pointless pursuit of something that is difficult to catch or attain.
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