Swan Quotes

1. "Botswana is actually very peaceful. It's democratic. It never was in debt. They've been fortunate, they've had diamonds."
Author: Alexander McCall Smith

2. "[The shells] do not have the meaning they once did, but, as Swann said in Remembrance of Things Past, "even when one is no longer attached to things, it's still something to have been attached to them." (22)"
Author: Anne Fadiman

3. "If you are stealing people's thunder just by being around and standing there; you really can't expect people to like you. People want their own thunder to be heard loud and wide, not yours! Swans should never despair over ducks not liking them."
Author: C. JoyBell C.

4. "She'd never encountered any stories as intricate or compelling as the stories he gave her, nor anything that made her sigh when she read it. She liked best the stories about people becoming other things. Stories where women became swans or echoes. In the evenings, when Finn disappeared into the mysterious recesses of the laboratory, Cat went out to the garden or down to the river and wondered what it would be like to be a stream of water, a cypress tree, a star burning a million miles away."
Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke

5. "Oh, Issyk-Kul, my Issyk-Kul--my unfinished song! Why did I have to remember that day when I came here with Asel and stopped on the same rise, right above the water? Everything was the same. The blue-and-white waves ran up the yellow shore holding hands. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and at the far end of the lake the water was tinged with pink. The swans wheeled over the water with excited, exultant cries. They soared up and dropped down on outspread wings that seemed to hum. They whipped up the water and started wide, foaming circles. Everything was the same, only there was no Asel with me. Where are you, my slender poplar in a red kerchief, where are you now?"
Author: Chingiz Aitmatov

6. "I was a lone duck in a swan-filled pond who criticized everyone."
Author: Chris Colfer

7. "Every whore needs a man that could turn her into a beautiful swan..."
Author: Cleopatramoneysex

8. "If swans weren't real, myths'd make them up."
Author: David Mitchell

9. "Peter eyes his swanky and incredibly dated jacket and fluffs the frills on his sleeves. Outside the window stands a guy in a tattered grey hoodie and cut-offs that slide down to his hips, thus exposing the plaid glory of his boxers. "Damn pity. If I'd known what crimes I'd be exposed to under the guise of fashion, I may have very well stayed dead."
Author: Diane Rinella

10. "This is because Marxism looks at things as a whole and in relation to each other—or tries to, but its limitations are not the point for the moment. A person who has been influenced by Marxism takes it for granted that an event in Siberia will affect one in Botswana. I think it is possible that Marxism was the first attempt, for our time [written in 1971], outside the formal religions, at a world-mind, a world ethic. It went wrong, could not prevent itself from dividing and subdividing, like all the other religions, into smaller and smaller chapels, sects and creeds. But it was an attempt."
Author: Doris Lessing

11. "Swanstein seriously had tears coming down his face! I watched in amazement. Seeing girls cry makes me very uncomfortable, but a fellow male in tears, in public, was pure fascination. I wanted to get a front-row seat and put on some 3-D glasses for the show."
Author: Flynn Meaney

12. "Nobody really metamorphoses. Cinderella is always Cinderella, just in a nicer dress. The Ugly Duckling was always a swan, just a smaller version. And I bet the tadpole and the caterpillar still feel the same, even when they're jumping and flying, swimming and floating.Just like I am now."
Author: Holly Smale

13. "Qhuinn's eyes shifted away from his buddy--and just happened to measure the distance down to the stone patio below. Hmm . . . doing a swan dive onto all that slate might just get the images of those two out of his head... of course, it would also turn his brain into scrambled eggs, but really, was that such a bad thing?"
Author: J.R. Ward

14. "Some men are born to good luck: all they do or try to do comes right—all that falls to them is so much gain—all their geese are swans—all their cards are trumps—toss them which way you will, they will always, like poor puss, alight upon their legs, and only move on so much the faster. The world may very likely not always think of them as they think of themselves, but what care they for the world? what can it know about the matter?"
Author: Jacob Grimm

15. "Love doesn't spend its time watering your plants. But it might bubblegum swank monkey mouth with you—twice."
Author: Jarod Kintz

16. "I thought acting was all about natural instinct but I've realised, through working with so many talented actors on 'Wild Swans' and 'Run,' that I can see the training. That's why I am back at drama school."
Author: Katie Leung

17. "Henrietta Swanson: "She was voted young lady most likely to become charming."Sheriff Taylor: "Well, say now. Becoming charming - that is something to look forward to, ain't it."
Author: Lauren Myracle

18. "—Por favor Swanson, no me hagas elegir entre tú y él.—¿Porque lo elegirás a él?—Él es mi novio.—Ni siquiera es tu novio ya.—Pero lo amo.—Entonces ya tomaste tu decisión Kat.—No, no puedo tomarla porque no quiero perder a ninguno de los dos."
Author: Lolo Mayaya

19. "And yet, my dear Charles Swann, whom I used to know when I was still so young and you were nearing your grave, it is because he whom you must have regarded as a young idiot has made you the hero of one of his novels that people are beginning to speak of you again and that your name will perhaps live."
Author: Marcel Proust

20. "It was with an unusual intensity of pleasure, a pleasure destined to have a lasting effect on him, that Swann remarked Odette's resemblance to the Zipporah of that Alessandro de Mariano to whom more people willingly give his popular surname, Botticelli, now that it suggests not so much the actual work of the Master as that false and banal conception of it which has of late obtained common currency."
Author: Marcel Proust

21. "But the harshness of his steely glare was compensated by the softness of his cotton gloves, so that, as he approached Swann, he seemed to be exhibiting at once an utter contempt for his person and the most tender regard for his hat."
Author: Marcel Proust

22. "Due to Jade's fortresslike manner, which, like any well-built castle, made access challenging, girls found her existence not only threatening but flat-out wrong. Although Bartelby Athletic Center featured the latest advertising campaign of Ms. Sturd's three member Benevolent Body-Image Club (laminated Vogue and Maxim covers above captions, "You Can't Have Thighs Like This and Still Walk" and "All Airbrushing"), Jade would only have to swan by, munching on a Snickers to reveal a disturbing truth: You could have thighs like that and still walk. She emphasized what few wanted to accept, that some people did win Trivial Pursuit: The Deity Looks Edition, and there wasn't a thing you could do about it, except come to terms with the fact that you'd only played Trivial Pursuit: John Doe Genes and come away with three pie pieces."
Author: Marisha Pessl

23. "Initially, after David's diagnosis, I would cringe when I readbooks or articles by cancer survivors who stated that cancer hadbeen a gift in their lives. How could all that David endured beviewed as a gift? The invasive surgery, the weeks of chemotherapyand radiation: a gift?Yet, after the cancer, David would often reach for my hand andsay, "If it is cancer that is responsible for our new relationship, thenit was all worth it." And I'd reluctantly agree that cancer had been agift in our lives. We'd both seen the other alternative: patients andsurvivors who had become bitter and angry, and neither one of uswanted to become that."
Author: Mary Potter Kenyon

24. "This memory was both happy and sad: happy because it was so pleasant, and sad because it made Penelope think about how much she missed Swanburne--the girls, the teachers, Miss Mortimer. Or perhaps it was her own much younger self, that pint-sized person whom she could never be again, whom she missed. It was hard to say."
Author: Maryrose Wood

25. "No sane paleontologist would ever claim that he or she had discovered "The Ancestor." Think about it this way: What is the chance that while walking through any random cemetery on our planet I would discover an actual ancestor of mine? Diminishingly small. What I would discover is that all people buried in these cemeteries-- no mater whether that cemetery is in China, Botswana, or Italy-- are related to me to different degrees. I can find this out by looking at their DNA with many of the forensic techniques in use in crime labs today. I'd see that some of the denizens of the cemeteries are distantly related to me, others are related more closely. This tree would be a very powerful window into my past and my family history. It would also have a practical application because I could use this tree to understand my predilection to get certain diseases and other facts of my biology. The same is true when we infer relationship among species."
Author: Neil Shubin

26. "The silver swan, who, living had no note, When death approached unlocked her silent throat."
Author: Orlando Gibbons

27. "Talking of being eaten by dogs, there's a dachshund at Brinkley who when you first meet him will give you the impression that he plans to convert you into a light snack between his regular meals. Pay no attention. It's all eyewash. His belligerent attitude is simply—"Sound and fury signifying nothing, sir?"That's it. Pure swank. A few civil words, and he will be grappling you . . . What's the expression I've heard you use?"Grappling me to his soul with hoops of steel, sir?"In the first two minutes. He wouldn't hurt a fly, but he has to put up a front because his name's Poppet. One can readily appreciate that when a dog hears himself addressed day in and day out as Poppet, he feels he must throw his weight about. Is self-respect demands it."Precisely, sir."You'll like Poppet. Nice dog. Wears his ears inside out. Why do dachshunds wear their ears inside out?"I could not say, sir."Nor me. I've often wondered."
Author: P.G. Wodehouse

28. "...the young swans as big as their parents now, but still grey and it looks peculiar, like two different species swimming in a line, alike in all their movements, and no doubt they think they are the same, while everyone can see that they are not."
Author: Per Petterson

29. "Then came nightthat was like falling water.At times, for hours,a bird spirit,half buzzard, half swan,just above the rushesfrom which a snow-storm howls."
Author: Peter Huchel

30. "Last-Minute Message For a Time CapsuleI have to tell you this, whoever you are:that on one summer morning here, the oceanpounded in on tumbledown breakers,a south wind, bustling along the shore,whipped the froth into little rainbows,and a reckless gull swept down the beachas if to fly were everything it needed.I thought of your hovering saucers,looking for clues, and I wanted to write this down,so it wouldn't be lost forever - -that once upon a time we hadmeadows here, and astonishing things,swans and frogs and luna mothsand blue skies that could stagger your heart.We could have had them still,and welcomed you to earth, butwe also had the righteous oneswho worshipped the True Faith, and Holy War.When you go home to your shining galaxy,say that what you learnedfrom this dead and barren place isto beware the righteous ones."
Author: Philip Appleman

31. "I manage to hold the poker face when she submits to dominance, to the summons, and swans into my arms, pressing her quivering form against mine when she embraces me."
Author: Poppet

32. "I've developed into quite a swan. I'm one of those people that will probably look better and better as I get older until I drop dead of beauty."
Author: Rufus Wainwright

33. "And while we're on the subject of ducks, which we plainly are, the story, 'The Ugly Duckling' ought be banned as the central character wasn't a duckling or he wouldn't have grown up into a swan. He was a cygnet."
Author: Russell Brand

34. "Like a swan, she made no sound."
Author: Sabrina Jeffries

35. "Swans sing before they die - 'twere no bad thing should certain persons die before they sing."
Author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

36. "So," she went on, "it got me thinking about what cost beauty. Or for that matter, what cost anything? Would you trade love for beauty? Or happiness for beauty? Could a gorgeous person with a mean streak be a worthy trade? And if you did make the trade, decide you'd take that beautiful swan and hope it wouldn't turn on you, what would you do if it did?"
Author: Sarah Dessen

37. "In my day we let the wolfswans incapable of birthing our young die. (Markus)Then it's a good thing we're in the twenty-first century and not the Dark Ages, isn't it? (Fang)"
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

38. "Isabella Swan?" He looked up at me through his impossibly long lashes, his golden eyes soft but, somehow, still scorching. "I promise to love you forever—every single day of forever. Will you marry me?"There were many things I wanted to say, some of them not nice at all, and others more disgustingly gooey and romantic than he probably dreamed I was capable of. Rather than embarrass myself with either, I whispered, "Yes.""Thank you," he said simply. He took my left hand and kissed each of my fingertips before he kissed the ring that was now mine."
Author: Stephenie Meyer

39. "I wasn't interesting. And he was. Interesting… and brilliant… and mysterious… and perfect… and beautiful… and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.-Bella Swan"
Author: Stephenie Meyer

40. "I was in disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise me.Bella Swan"
Author: Stephenie Meyer

41. "Edward: «Isabella Swan?» Mi guardò da dietro quelle ciglia incredibilmente lunghe, con occhi dorati, dolci e al tempo stesso ardenti. «Prometto di amarti per sempre, ogni singolo giorno, per l'eternità. Mi vuoi sposare?» Avrei voluto dire un sacco di cose, alcune per niente affatto belle, altre vergognosamente sdolcinate e romantiche, che forse nemmeno nei suoi sogni mi aveva mai sentito dire. Eppure, invece di sentirmi in imbarazzo, sussurrai: «Sì»."
Author: Stephenie Meyer

42. "So let's say my bad luck did crash the plane. What exactly are were you going to do about it?' 'Why is the plane crashing?' He was trying to hide a smile now. 'The piolets are passed out and drunk.' 'Easy. I'd fly the plane.' Of course. I pursed my lips and tried again. 'Both engines have exploded and we're falling in a death spiral towards the earth.' 'I'd wait till we were close enough to the ground, get a good grip on you, kick out the wall, and jump. Then, I'd run you back to the scene of the accident, and we'd stumble around like the two luckiest surviours in history.' I stared at him wordlessly. 'What?' He wispered." - Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, Eclipse"
Author: Stephenie Meyer

43. "If I had the wings of a swan, over these stony hills I would fly. I would fly to the arms of my true love, and there I'd be happy to die."
Author: Susan Price

44. "You'd really give up your big, swanky apartment?""If you don't want to move in there with me, yes.""But you love your apartment.""I love you more, dumb ass."
Author: Suzanne Wright

45. "The swans are unnaturally beautiful. They mate for life.I wish they could talk. I have questions."
Author: Suzanne Finnamore

46. "To love love and not its meaning, hardens the heart in monstrous ways..." (The Rape Of The Swan)Footnote : A form of self-edification, infatuation, lust and the epitome of hedonism."
Author: The Poet Archibald MacLeish

47. "I go on a hunting safari at least once a year to Botswana, which is fantastic because we have a huge area of wilderness entirely to ourselves. My island covers roughly 55 acres, which again I have to myself, with nearly half a kilometre of private beach with my own jetties and boats."
Author: Wilbur Smith

48. "FRANK: Do you know Yeats?RITA: The wine lodge?FRANK: No, WB Yeats, the poet.RITA: No.FRANK: Well, in his poem 'The Wild Swans At Coole',Yeats rhymes the word "swan" with the word "stone". You see? That's an example of assonance.RITA: Yeah, means getting the rhyme wrong."
Author: Willy Russell

49. "Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a shelter,worthy of Kubla Khan's Xanadu dome;Plushy and swanky, with posh hanky pankythat affluent Yankees can really callhome.Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a shelter,a push-button palace, fluorescent repose;Electric devices for facing a crisiswith frozen fruit ices and cinema shows.Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a shelterall chromium kitchens and rubber-tiled dorms;With waterproof portals to echo the chortlesof weatherproof mortals in hydrogen storms.What a great come-to-glory emporium!To enjoy a deluxe moratorium,Where nuclear heat can beguile the elitein a creme-de-la-creme crematorium."
Author: Yip Harburg

50. "To ugly ducklings everywhere,Don't worry about those fluffy yellow morons:They'll never get to be swans"
Author: Zoë Marriott

Swan Quotes Pictures