Winter is a season that evokes many feelings and memories. The cold weather, snowy days, and holidays like Christmas often inspire us to reflect on this special time of year. Quotes about winter can beautifully capture the essence of the season and provide inspiration as the days grow shorter and colder. In this article, we’ll explore some of the best winter quotes and how they remind us of the unique joys and challenges of the winter months.
The Meaning of Winter
Winter represents a time of stillness and reflection in the cycle of seasons. As nature grows dormant, we tend to slow down and turn inward during the winter months. Shorter days and cold weather keep us indoors more often. The Christmas season fills late December with nostalgia and preparations for time with family and friends. January and February can feel bleak and dreary after the holidays have passed. However, winter also offers the chance to rest and recuperate after a busy fall.
Some of the key symbolic meanings and associations with winter include:
- Cold, ice, and snow
- Darkness and night
- A season of death and dormancy in nature
- A time for rest, renewal, and reflection
- Warmth, hearth, and home
- The holiday season and time with family
- New beginnings on New Year’s Day
- Depression, isolation, and “cabin fever”
Great quotes can highlight the distinctive seasonal themes and emotions we connect with winter. The contrasts and paradoxes of winter also inspire many memorable sayings. Let’s look at some of the best winter quotes organized by theme.
Quotes About the Cold of Winter
Frigid temperatures and icy conditions define the winter weather. These quotes focus on the cold itself or ways we adapt to it:
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus
“Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.” – Sinclair Lewis
“One kind word can warm three winter months.” – Japanese proverb
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” – Edith Sitwell
“Melting snowflakes in January, freezing toes under covers at night, reading books with sunshine streaming in through the windows – these are best.” – Elizabeth Berg
These quotes remind us of the chill in the air but also the comforts like hearth, home, and companionship that make winter cozy. The cold causes people to band together and look after one another.
Quotes About Darkness and Light in Winter
The contrast of light and dark is very pronounced in winter when nights are much longer. These quotes refer to the darkness but also the hopeful return of light:
“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” – Victor Hugo
“There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind.” – Annie Dillard
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'” – Lewis Carroll
“Night falls fast. Today is the shortest day of the year. Yet the stars seem brighter tonight.” – Ben Aaronovitch
“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.” – George R.R. Martin
Along with the darkness comes an appreciation for sources of light like the sun, stars, and candles. And the long nights make friendships and bonds stronger.
Quotes About Holidays and Family in Winter
Several major holidays fall during the winter months. These quotes speak to the feelings of togetherness and joy associated with holidays like Christmas:
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years… Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.” – George Matthew Adams
“Memories are little gifts to ourselves we can open when we want to recall times gone by. At Christmas they are among the most precious gifts we receive.” – Lisa Jackson
“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.” – Peg Bracken
“There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.” – Erma Bombeck
The nostalgia, joy, and generosity of the holiday season create special family bonds. These quotes reflect on the meaning of that unique spirit.
Quotes About the New Year
New Year’s Day represents a chance to start fresh. Here are inspirational quotes about new beginnings in winter:
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” – Abraham Lincoln
“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…”
– Alfred Tennyson
“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul…” – G.K. Chesterton
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”
– T.S. Eliot
A fresh calendar year brings optimism and motivation to improve oneself and start over. These quotes reflect the positivity of turning over a new leaf.
Quotes About the Beauty of Winter
Though cold and bleak at times, winter scenery can also be incredibly beautiful. These quotes marvel at winter’s stunning visuals:
“The very fact of snow is such an amazement.” – Roger Ebert
“Everything is born again when it drops its seeds and its leaves, everything is born again when the cold winter moon turns towards the light.” – Patti Smith
“Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.” – Bill Morgan, Jr.
“Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.” – Sara Raasch
“Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them.” – Vincent A. Simeone
Snow-covered landscapes, icicles, and frosted trees create striking visions of natural beauty. Winter reveals nature’s artistic gifts.
Quotes About the Mixed Feelings of Winter
The flip side of winter’s beauty is the melancholy or hardship it can bring. These quotes acknowledge the complexities of the season:
“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” – Percy Bysshe Shelley
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’“ – Lewis Carroll
“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” – Yoko Ono
“In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.” – Ben Aaronovitch
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” – Hal Borland
Though challenging, winter elicits appreciation of comforts like books or dreams of warmer seasons ahead. The difficulties make the renewal of spring sweeter.
Famous Literary Quotes About Winter
A number of famous writers and poets have penned memorable passages about the winter season. Here are some of the best-known literary winter quotes:
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” – Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” – Edith Sitwell, poet
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” – Hal Borland, author and naturalist
“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.” – George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa
From poets like Hal Borland to novelists like George R.R. Martin, many famous writers have captured the uniqueness of winter.
Uplifting Quotes About Winter
The dreary cold of winter can sometimes bring people down. These inspirational sayings provide encouragement:
“Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.” – Sara Raasch
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – John Lubbock
“Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them.” – Vincent A. Simeone
“Melting snowflakes in January, freezing toes under covers at night, reading books with sunshine streaming in through the windows – these are best.” – Elizabeth Berg
“There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.” – Erma Bombeck
Finding beauty and slowing down in winter remind us it’s still a season for childlike joy. Small pleasures help brighten dark days.
Short Winter Quotes
Some of the best sentiments about winter come in brief statements. Here are a few short but impactful winter quotes and proverbs:
“Winter is the time for comfort.”
“One kind word can warm three winter months.” -Japanese proverb
“Snowflakes are winter’s butterflies.”
“A snowy winter is as welcome as a hot summer.” -Chinese proverb
“Winter never takes, only brings.”
“Hot cup of tea, good book, fuzzy socks. Winter comforts.”
“Stay warm, drink tea, enjoy winter.”
“Snow falls softly, like feathers from the sky.”
“Winter breeze, freedom freeze.”
A well-crafted short quote can elegantly capture an essence of winter in just a few words.
Conclusion
Winter offers many sources of inspiration from its stark beauty to memorable holidays and time with family and friends. The winter quotes and sayings gathered here reflect on the distinctive joys, challenges, and contradictions of the season. A beautiful passage reminds us of the comforts of the coldest months. An inspirational quote lifts our spirits on a gloomy day. The right words help us appreciate and embrace the winter season in all its complexity. Whether it’s cozy, harsh, festive, or dreary outside, may these winter quotes inspire you to find the beauty in each unique day of the year’s coldest season.
If you are searching for some moving words to match the feelings brought on by winter, one of these quotes should fit the occasion perfectly. Share these sayings in a holiday newsletter, on a greeting card, or simply by speaking thoughtfully to brighten someone’s winter day.
