“
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
”
”
Muhammad Ali (Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times)
“
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.
”
”
Muhammad Ali
“
Kind of like love before first sight.”
and
“Butterflies in your stomach. That was such a crappy metaphor. More like killer bees.
”
”
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1))
“
Read like a butterfly, write like a bee.
”
”
Philip Pullman
“
Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers, and when it wasn't raining a diamond dust took over which veiled and yet magnified all things
”
”
Laurie Lee (Cider with Rosie)
“
A soft Sea washed around the House
A Sea of Summer Air
And rose and fell the magic Planks
That sailed without a care —
For Captain was the Butterfly
For Helmsman was the Bee
And an entire universe
For the delighted crew.
”
”
Emily Dickinson
“
Bees and butterflies, moths and dragonflies, the flowers and the brooks and the clouds.
”
”
George MacDonald
“
Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of education.
”
”
Luther Burbank
“
It was the dandelion principle! To some people a dandelion might look like a weed, but to others that same plant can be so much more. To an herbalist, it’s a medicine—a way of detoxifying the liver, clearing the skin, and strengthening the eyes. To a painter, it’s a pigment; to a hippie, a crown; a child, a wish. To a butterfly, it’s sustenance; to a bee, a mating bed; to an ant, one point in a vast olfactory atlas.
”
”
Lulu Miller (Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life)
“
Butterflies in your stomach. That was such a crappy metaphor. More like killer bees.
”
”
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1))
“
Even in the fiercest battles the Butterflies and Bee's still kiss the flowers.
”
”
Stanley Victor Paskavich
“
If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden. The two processes complement each other, creating a complete landscape that I treasure. The green foliage of the trees casts a pleasant shade over the earth, and the wind rustles the leaves, which are sometimes dyed a brilliant gold. Meanwhile, in the garden, buds appear on the flowers, and colorful petals attract bees and butterflies, reminding us of the subtle transition from one season to the next.
”
”
Haruki Murakami (Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman)
“
She was whispering into it in some language that sounded like butterflies drowning in honey.
”
”
Chris Cleave (Little Bee)
“
When the bee to the earth does fall, the butterfly comes back to change all.
”
”
Robin Hobb (Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, #1))
“
The peace of Manderley. The quietude and the grace. Whoever lived within its walls, whatever trouble there was and strife, however much uneasiness and pain, no matter what tears were shed, what sorrows borne, the peace of Manderley could not be broken or the loveliness destroyed. The flowers that died would bloom again another year, the same birds build their nests, the same trees blossom. That old quiet moss smell would linger in the air, and the bees would come, and crickets, the herons build their nests in the deep dark woods. The butterflies would dance their merry jug across the lawns, and spiders spin foggy webs, and small startled rabbits who had no business to come trespassing poke their faces through the crowded shrubs. There would be lilac, and honeysuckle still, and the white magnolia buds unfolding slow and tight beneath the dining-room window. No one would ever hurt Manderley. It would lie always in its hollow like an enchanted thing, guarded by the woods, safe, secure, while the sea broke and ran and came again in the little shingle bays below.
”
”
Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca)
“
I am ashamed of the race of beings to which I belong. It is so cruel and bigoted, so hypocritical, so soulless and insane. I would rather be an insect ... a bee or a butterfly ... and float in dim dreams among the wild-flowers of summer than be a man and feel the horrible and ghastly wrongs and sufferings of this wretched world.
”
”
J. Howard Moore
“
I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired. I wanted to live alone,I felt best being alone, cleaner,,,
”
”
Charles Bukowski (Ham on Rye)
“
Wings are of many kinds. Butterfly's wings, vulture's wings, eagle-wings, spread wings of white swans, dragonfly's serene wings, wings of albatross, lovely wings of humming birds, tiny wings of a fly or a bumble-bee-wings; and when they fly, they fly their best according to their ability of flying. We should not underestimate the size of those heavenly wings.
”
”
Munia Khan
“
the smell of resin filled the air. A thrush was singing somewhere. Late harebells were thick among the grass, and small blue butterflies moved over the white flowers of the blackberry. There was a hive of wild bees under the roof of the chapel; their humming filled the air, the sound of summer’s end. Through
”
”
Mary Stewart (The Hollow Hills (Arthurian Saga, #2))
“
She sighed, she snored, not that she was asleep, only drowsy and heavy, drowsy and heavy, like a field of clover in the sunshine this hot July day, with the bees going round and about and the yellow butterflies.
”
”
Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway)
“
I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired.
”
”
Charles Bukowski (Ham on Rye)
“
The mullein had finished blooming, and stood up out of the pastures like dusty candelabra. The flowers of Queen Anne's lace had curled up into birds' nests, and the bee balm was covered with little crown-shaped pods. In another month -- no, two, maybe -- would come the season of the skeletons, when all that was left of the weeds was their brittle architecture. But the time was not yet. The air was warm and bright, the grass was green, and the leaves, and the lazy monarch butterflies were everywhere.
”
”
Elizabeth Enright
“
It is an utter violation of good breeding and training to speak or to behave in a way that disrespects, embarrasses, or otherwise denigrates aother human being; in so doing, you denigrate yourself as well.
”
”
Maureen Lang (Bees in the Butterfly Garden (The Gilded Legacy, #1))
“
No sun—no moon!
No morn—no noon—
No dawn—
No sky—no earthly view—
No distance looking blue—
No road—no street—no "t'other side the way"—
No end to any Row—
No indications where the Crescents go—
No top to any steeple—
No recognitions of familiar people—
No courtesies for showing 'em—
No knowing 'em!
No traveling at all—no locomotion,
No inkling of the way—no notion—
"No go"—by land or ocean—
No mail—no post—
No news from any foreign coast—
No park—no ring—no afternoon gentility—
No company—no nobility—
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member—
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!
”
”
Thomas Hood
“
While most of the flowers in the garden had rich scents and colors, we also had two magnolia trees, with huge but pale and scentless flowers. The magnolia flowers, when ripe, would be crawling with tiny insects, little beetles. Magnolias, my mother explained, were among the most ancient of flowering plants and had appeared nearly a hundred million years ago, at a time when “modern” insects like bees had not yet evolved, so they had to rely on a more ancient insect, a beetle, for pollination. Bees and butterflies, flowers with colors and scents, were not preordained, waiting in the wings—and they might never have appeared. They would develop together, in infinitesimal stages, over millions of years. The idea of a world without bees or butterflies, without scent or color, affected me with a sense of awe.
”
”
Oliver Sacks (The River of Consciousness)
“
I smiled down at Charlie, and I understood that he would be free now even if I would not. In this way the life that was in me would find its way in him now. It was not a sad feeling. I felt my heart take off lightly like a butterfly and I thought, yes, this is it, something has survived in me, something that does not need to run anymore, because it is worth more than all the money in the world and its currency, its true home, is the living. And not just the living in this particular country or in that particular country, but the secret, irresistible heart of the living. I smiled back at Charlie and I knew that the hopes of this whole human world could fit inside one soul.
”
”
Chris Cleave (Little Bee)
“
If I could hold the whole world in my arms and hug it, to thank it for giving me life i would, but i can't i'm not big enough, i need help, from everyone.
By ig Oliver.
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
We can’t move forward as a human race until we all act as a humane race, and treat our world with humanity with a touch of humility. By ig Oliver
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
Death wakes up from a snooze, checks his pocket watch, and sighs.
”
”
Ishbelle Bee (The Contrary Tale of the Butterfly Girl (The Peculiar Adventures of John Loveheart, Esq. #2))
“
it is not an easy matter to change suddenly from the butterfly to the busy bee.
”
”
Laura Beatty (Lillie Langtry: Manners, Masks and Morals)
“
When the bee to the earth does fall, the butterfly comes back to change all
”
”
Robin Hobb (Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool, #1))
“
Oh that it were with me
As with the flower;
Blooming on its own tree
For butterfly and bee
Its summer morns:
That I might bloom mine hour
A rose in spite of thorns.
”
”
Christina Rossetti
“
the entertainments of the fashionable world are collections of flowers which attract inconstant butterflies, famished bees, and buzzing drones.
”
”
Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo (AmazonClassics Edition))
“
Beautiful winter means beautiful spring! When you look at a great winter scenery, see the flowers, see the bees, see the butterflies, they are all there!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
A little road not made of man,
Enabled of the eye,
Accessible to thill of bee,
Or cart of butterfly.
If town it have, beyond itself,
’T is that I cannot say;
I only sigh,—no vehicle
Bears me along that way.
”
”
Emily Dickinson (The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson)
“
I taste a liquor never brewed"
I taste a liquor never brewed --
From Tankards scooped in Pearl --
Not all the Vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an Alcohol!
Inebriate of Air -- am I --
And Debauchee of Dew --
Reeling -- thro endless summer days --
From inns of Molten Blue --
When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove's door --
When Butterflies -- renounce their "drams" --
I shall but drink the more!
Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats --
And Saints -- to windows run --
To see the little Tippler
Leaning against the -- Sun --
”
”
Emily Dickinson
“
Years passed with nothing to show in a land once so enchanted that bees and butterflies slept safe in the blossoms after their nectar was gathered. Here was a place that defined beauty in petals and leaves, scent and sight, hue and touch.
”
”
Ellen Herrick (The Forbidden Garden)
“
If a girl were asked which part of a plant she would be, would any choose the root? Blindly clutching the dark earth, never seeing sun nor feeling wind? Toiling there to feed the stem and flower with never a thank-you from them? And who would choose to be the thorn? Thorns protect the plant from pluckers, but who gives honor to them? Nay, any girl would choose to be the bud, opening to the sun, fragrant and beautiful, tickled by bees and butterflies, and looked upon with love.
”
”
Janet Lee Carey (Dragon's Keep (Wilde Island Chronicles, #1))
“
A rainbow is a storm’s masterpiece.
A seed is a flower’s masterpiece.
A rock is a diamond’s masterpiece.
A butterfly is a caterpillar’s masterpiece.
A flame is a spark’s masterpiece.
A drop is an ocean’s masterpiece.
A brick is a mansion’s masterpiece.
A cell is a body’s masterpiece.
A nest is a bird’s masterpiece.
A flame is a spark’s masterpiece.
A note is a symphony’s masterpiece.
A flower is a garden’s masterpiece.
Herbs are a plant’s masterpiece.
Honey is a bee’s masterpiece.
Silk is a spider’s masterpiece.
Wool is a sheep’s masterpiece.
Perfume is a flower’s masterpiece.
Syrup is a tree’s masterpiece.
Wine is a grape’s masterpiece.
Fruit is a seed’s masterpiece.
Pearls are an oyster’s masterpiece.
Beauty is a sky’s masterpiece.
Charm is a star’s masterpiece.
Spring is nature’s masterpiece.
Time is eternity’s masterpiece.
Energy is light’s masterpiece.
Heat is fire’s masterpiece.
Knowledge is truth’s masterpiece.
Thoughts are the mind’s masterpiece.
Desires are the heart’s masterpiece.
Experiences are the soul’s masterpiece.
Intelligence is nature’s masterpiece.
Enlightenment is wisdom’s masterpiece.
The world is the universe’s masterpiece.
Life is the Divine One’s masterpiece.
Awareness is life’s masterpiece.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
They found Xiang-yun where the maid had said, on a large stone bench in a hidden corner of the rockery, dead to the world. She was covered all over from head to foot with crimson petals from the peony bushes which grew about; the fan which had slipped from her hand and lay on the found beside her was half buried in petals; and heaped up peony petals wrapped in a silk handkerchief made an improvised pillow for her head. Over and around this petalled monstrosity a convocation of bees and butterflies was hovering distractedly.
”
”
Cao Xueqin (The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 3: The Warning Voice)
“
We all live in a world of both darkness and light, while being a society that favours one over the other, forgetting that all butterflies came to be in darkness, that all bees were born in hives, that every living finger and toe was formed in the pitch black of the womb.
”
”
C. JoyBell C.
“
Most people lived so far from it, they thought you could just choose, carnivore or vegetarian, without knowing that the chemicals on grain and cotton killed far more butterflies and bees and bluebirds and whippoorwills than the mortal cost of a steak or a leather jacket.
”
”
Barbara Kingsolver (Prodigal Summer)
“
Things I love about spring are these:
Blooming flowers on fruit-bearing trees.
Fire-red tulips—their first reveal—
Followed by sun-yellow daffodils.
Trees acquiring new coats of green.
Natural waterfalls glistening.
The chirps and melodies of birds.
Throaty ribbits of frogs overheard.
A passing whiff of mint to smell,
Oregano and basil as well.
Colorful butterflies with wings.
Fuzzy, industrious bees that sting.
Sunlight waning late in the day.
Warm breezes causing willows to sway.
Most of all, a sense of things new,
Including budding feelings for you.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year)
“
Lord, so many things skitter through my mind, and I give chase to gather them and hold them up in a bunch to you, but they go this way and that while I go that way and this ... So, gather me up instead
and bless what eludes my grasp but not yours: trees and bees, fireflies and butterflies, roses and barbecues, and people ... Lord, the people ... bless the people: birthday people, giving birth people, being born people; conformed people,
dying people, dead people; hostaged people, banged up people, held down people; leader people, lonely people, limping people; hungry people,
surfeited
”
”
Ted Loder (Guerrillas Of Grace: Prayers For The Battle)
“
I think I was enchanted
When first a sombre Girl —
I read that Foreign Lady** —
The Dark — felt beautiful —
And whether it was noon at night —
Or only Heaven — at Noon —
For very Lunacy of Light
I had not power to tell —
The Bees — became as Butterflies —
The Butterflies — as Swans —
Approached — and spurned the narrow Grass —
And just the meanest Tunes
That Nature murmured to herself
To keep herself in Cheer —
I took for Giants — practising
Titanic Opera —
The Days — to Mighty Metres stept —
The Homeliest — adorned
As if unto a Jubilee
'Twere suddenly confirmed —
I could not have defined the change —
Conversion of the Mind
Like Sanctifying in the Soul —
Is witnessed — not explained —
'Twas a Divine Insanity —
The Danger to be Sane
Should I again experience —
'Tis Antidote to turn —
To Tomes of solid Witchcraft —
Magicians be asleep —
But Magic — hath an Element
Like Deity — to keep —
”
”
Emily Dickinson
“
The days were sinking into the summery sunshine, flowery blossom, twinkling of colorful butterflies, buzzing bees, and happy singing of birds.
”
”
Sahara Sanders (Gods’ Food (Indigo Diaries, #1))
“
Sometimes if you listen carefully, you can hear the book. Is it you reading or is the book talking.
By ig Oliver
@originalYowza
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
Writing is art creation and knowledge, it’s the understanding of the equation, it cry’s it laughs it answers don’t forget how to use it.
By ig Oliver
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
Sometimes, it's hard to accept change, but like a butterfly, you can soar high and feel free when you do
”
”
Bee_
“
You are all wave particles when I close my eyes. I am no more entranced by your entanglement than a butterfly is to a bee.
”
”
Solange nicole
“
A person could hardly prevent thoughts introduced by others; it was what one did with such thoughts that proved to be improper or not.
”
”
Maureen Lang (Bees in the Butterfly Garden (The Gilded Legacy, #1))
“
Marriage is holy in God’s eyes, a symbol of loyalty that mirrors God’s loyalty to us. It’s a union that will make one man and one woman better together than they can be apart.
”
”
Maureen Lang (Bees in the Butterfly Garden (The Gilded Legacy, #1))
“
Be the Music that Moves you
Float like a Butterfly Sting like Bee
Follow your DREAMS!
”
”
John Green
“
All the roses from my kingdom are red. There's no need for paint.
”
”
Ishbelle Bee (The Contrary Tale of the Butterfly Girl (The Peculiar Adventures of John Loveheart, Esq. #2))
“
I’d forgotten how many butterflies there were back then, how many bees.
”
”
Ann Patchett (Tom Lake)
“
With only butterflies to brood, And bees to entertain,
”
”
Emily Dickinson (The Poems of Emily Dickinson)
“
A breakfast you have in nature is never an ordinary breakfast because the squirrels, bees, butterflies and leaves you will see while you have breakfast will add magic to the setting!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
In Sweden, nature is not an abstract concept that is taught only on Earth Day and through textbooks about bees and butterflies. It’s an integral part of everyday life. Daily interaction with nature has helped turn many children, myself included, into passionate advocates for the environment. Not surprisingly, Scandinavia is also a world leader when it comes to renewable energy, recycling, and sustainable living.
”
”
Linda Åkeson McGurk (There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge))
“
1058
Bloom—is Result—to meet a Flower
And casually glance
Would scarcely cause one to suspect
The minor Circumstance
Assisting in the Bright Affair
So intricately done
Then offered as a Butterfly
To the Meridian—
To pack the Bud—oppose the Worm—
Obtain its right of Dew—
Adjust the Heat—elude the Wind—
Escape the prowling Bee
Great Nature not to disappoint
Awaiting Her that Day—
To be a Flower, is profound
Responsibility—
”
”
Emily Dickinson
“
Be kind and corteous to this gentleman;
Hop in his walks and gambol in his eyes;
Feed him with apricocks and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries;
The honey bags steal from the humble-bees,
And for night-tapers crop their waxen tights,
And light them at the fiery glow-worm’s eyes,
To have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from painted butterflies,
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes.
Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.
”
”
William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
“
She does not collapse on the stage. She darts onto it, and says the most stunning thing, and then darts off. It is not the weight of her disclosures that stuns the audience, but the lightness of attention as it hovers between there and not there, between her enticing proximity and her blunt distance. Joan Didion is not a penitent in confession, or a lover ready for embrace. She is not even a burlesque dancer. God no. She is a boxer. She floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.
”
”
Steffie Nelson (Slouching Towards Los Angeles: Living and Writing by Joan Didion’s Light)
“
We were offered a deal by nature: if we gave up thousands of species of birds, plants, mammals, butterflies, and bees, in exchange we could have a handful of new kinds of mosquitoes and rats. It is a bad deal but one that so far we have accepted.
”
”
Rob Dunn (A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species)
“
This time of year, the purple blooms were busy with life- not just the bees, but butterflies and ladybugs, skippers and emerald-toned beetles, flitting hummingbirds and sapphire dragonflies. The sun-warmed sweet haze of the blossoms filled the air.
"When I was a kid," said Isabel, "I used to capture butterflies, but I was afraid of the bees. I'm getting over that, though." The bees softly rose and hovered over the flowers, their steady hum oddly soothing. The quiet buzzing was the soundtrack of her girlhood summers. Even now, she could close her eyes and remember her walks with Bubbie, and how they would net a monarch or swallowtail butterfly, studying the creature in a big clear jar before setting it free again. They always set them free.
As she watched the activity in the hedge, a memory floated up from the past- Bubbie, gently explaining to Isabel why they needed to open the jar. "No creature should ever be trapped against its will," she used to say. "It will ruin itself, just trying to escape." As a survivor of a concentration camp, Bubbie only ever spoke of the experience in the most oblique of terms.
”
”
Susan Wiggs (The Beekeeper's Ball (Bella Vista Chronicles, #2))
“
Spring, in Brittany, is milder than spring in Paris, and bursts into flower three weeks earlier. The five birds that herald its appearance—the swallow, the oriole, the cuckoo, the quail, and the nightingale—arrive with the breezes that refuge in the bays of the Armorican peninsula.[28] The earth is covered over with daisies, pansies, jonquils, daffodils, hyacinths, buttercups, and anemones, like the wastelands around San Giovanni of Laterano and the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome. The clearings are feathered with tall and elegant ferns; the fields of gorse and broom blaze with flowers that one may take at first glance for golden butterflies. The hedges, along which strawberries, raspberries, and violets grow, are adorned with hawthorn, honeysuckle, and brambles whose brown, curving shoots burst forth with magnificent fruits and leaves. All the world teems with bees and birds; hives and nests interrupt the child’s every footstep. In certain sheltered spots, the myrtle and the rose-bay flourish in the open air, as in Greece; figs ripen, as in Provence; and every apple tree, bursting with carmine flowers, looks like the big bouquet of a village bride.
”
”
François-René de Chateaubriand (Memoirs from Beyond the Grave: 1768-1800)
“
The days were sinking into the summery sunshine, flowery blossom, twinkling of colorful butterflies, buzzing bees, and happy singing of birds; while the nights kept charming with warm winds under the clear skies full of stars, mysteriously shining from incomprehensible spaces of the boundless Universe.
”
”
Sahara Sanders (The ADVENTURES of Emily Smith & Billy Fifer)
“
Henri made it clear by tone alone that if he wanted to buy that fight, Henri would certainly sell it. It bemused me, really. Henri was usually this easy-going gentleman, but man, if he did get pissed off? He was like a wounded badger. I don’t think he knows the whole idiom of ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.’ He was all bee.
”
”
Honor Raconteur (Magic Outside the Box (The Case Files of Henri Davenforth, #3))
“
The Quack Toad 84 The Fox Without a Tail 85 The Mischievous Dog 86 The Rose and the Butterfly 86 The Cat and the Fox 88 The Boy and the Nettles 88 The Old Lion 89 The Fox and the Pheasants 89 Two Travelers and a Bear 90 The Porcupine and the Snakes 91 The Fox and the Monkey 91 The Mother and the Wolf 92 The Flies and the Honey 92 The Eagle and the Kite 93 The Stag, the Sheep, and the Wolf 93 The Animals and the Plague 94 The Shepherd and the Lion 95 The Dog and His Reflection 96 The Hare and the Tortoise 96 The Bees and Wasps, and the Hornet 98 The Lark and Her Young Ones 99 The Cat and the Old Rat 100 The Fox and the Crow 101 The Ass and His Shadow 102 The Miller, His Son, and the Ass 102 The
”
”
Milo Winter (The Aesop for Children)
“
Change blows through the branches of our existence. It fortifies the roots on which we stand, infuses crimson experience with autumn hues, dismantles Winter’s brittle leaves, and ushers Spring into our fertile environments. Seeds of evolution burst from their pod cocoons and teardrop buds blossom into Summer flowers. Change releases its redolent scent, attracting the buzz of honey bees and the adoration of discerning butterflies.
”
”
B.G. Bowers (Death and Life)
“
Birds, bees, butterflies… nests, holes, trees, lakes, hives, hills, shores, and hollows… nearly every creature shares some version of this deep attachment to a place in which life has been known to flourish, the kind of place we call home. It is in the nature of human attachment that every journey and expulsion sets into motion the search for home. That nostos, finding home, is among our most profound needs is evident by the price we are willing to pay for it.
”
”
Shoshana Zuboff (The Age of Surveillance Capitalism)
“
Be kind and corteous to this gentleman;
Hop in his walks and gambol in his eyews;
Feed him with apricocks and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries;
The honey bags steal from the humble-bees,
And for night-tapers crop their waxen tights,
And light them at the fiery glow-worm’s eyes,
To have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from painted butterflies,
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes.
Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.
”
”
William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
“
life is a world you have to live by…
it has its own rules you go by…
it gives you joy and struggles…
i see a mountain…
my goal is not to reach the peak…
but to reach the foot of the mountain…
you may ask why the foot and not the peak…
well come dear one sit down…
and i'll tell you the meaning…
A butterfly so delicate to touch…
so graceful that you are in awe…
but what you don't understand is they are like humans…
they can't see how beautiful their wings are…
but everything else can...
we can't see our face but everyone else can…
An owl so wise to see…
so kind to hear…
who it calls…
the who is you…
the who is one you meet…
the who is a friend…
A bee so humble…
so hard working…
and yet still has a whole lot of work to do…
we can sting like a bee…
for standing up what is right…
even though it can be wrong…
there is only one path…
and you can never go back…
all you have to do is to keep going…
that path is the journey life awaits…
but you have to follow by its rules…
and here are the three simple rules…
one...
you must accept what life gives you…
and also what it takes from you…
two…
never think too much…
cause we all don't get the answers to everything…
three…
is to just deal with it…
you create what life gives you, you don't run it…
look at my feet…
they are worn from all the rocks i had to walk on…
but it has dirt that nourished life all the years…
look at my hands…
yes they are small but look closely…
they are torn from climbing…
life can try to put a blockage in your path…
but all you can do is to climb that blockage…
and say is that all…
look in my eyes…
they seen so many things…
things i loss and gained…
full of wonder…
but if you look closer…
you can see a fire burning so bright…
i am determined to see beyond my journey…
i am being created…
creating my life in my own way…
and we all have goals…
but we all want to achieve a broad goal…
that is the peak…
but the main goal is to finish your path…
the path life put you in…
the path that leads to....
nothing for right now cause we haven't made it yet…
but it said to be true…
the foot of the mountain is a new beginning…
we can't stand without a foot…
so the question is…
how are you going to stand at the peak to oversee the view when you didn't care so much about the foot?
”
”
Chelsea Roberts
“
The forest reveals what was in the seed.
The hen reveals what was in the egg.
The storm reveals what was in the clouds.
The light reveals what was in the star.
The perfume reveals what was in the flower.
The honey reveals what was in the bee.
The fruit reveals what was in the tree.
The rose reveals what was in the thorn.
The web reveals what was in the spider.
The butterfly reveals what was in the caterpillar.
The venom reveals what was in the serpent.
The pearl reveals what was in the oyster.
The diamond reveals what was in the rock.
The flame reveals what was in the spark.
The nest reveals what was in the bird.
The roar reveals what was in the lion.
The leaf reveals what was in the plant.
The fire reveals what was in the wood.
The droplet reveals what was in the ocean.
The rainbow reveals what was in the storm.
The ocean reveals what was in the shark.
The desert reveals what was in the camel.
The sky reveals what was in the eagle.
The jungle reveals what was in the elephant.
The team reveals what was in the coach.
The flock reveals what was in the shepherd.
The crew reveals what was in the captain.
The army reveals what was in the general.
The tower reveals what was in the architect.
The sculpture reveals what was in the sculptor.
The painting reveals what was in the painter.
The symphony reveals what was in the composer.
The sensation reveals what was in the body.
The tongue reveals what was in the mind.
The action reveals what was in the heart.
The character reveals what was in the soul.
Spring reveals what was in winter.
Summer reveals what was in spring.
Autumn reveals what was in summer.
Summer reveals what was in spring.
The past reveals what was in the beginning.
The present reveals what was in the past.
The future reveals what was in the present.
The afterlife reveals what was in the future.
”
”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“
Absence "
Then the birds stitching the dawn with their song
have patterned your name.
Then the green bowl of the garden filling with light
is your gaze.
Then the lawn lengthening and warming itself
is your skin.
Then a cloud disclosing itself overhead
is your opening hand.
Then the first seven bells from the church
pine on the air.
Then the sun's soft bite on my face
is your mouth.
Then a bee in a rose is your fingertip
touching me here.
Then the trees bending and meshing their leaves
are what we would do.
Then my steps to the river are text to a prayer
printing the ground.
Then the river searching its bank for your shape
is desire.
Then a fish nuzzling for the water's throat
has a lover's ease.
Then a shawl of sunlight dropped in the grass
is a garment discarded.
Then a sudden scatter of summer rain
is your tongue.
Then a butterfly paused on a trembling leaf
is your breath.
Then the gauzy mist relaxed on the ground
is your pose.
Then the fruit from the cherry tree falling on grass
is your kiss, your kiss.
Then the day's hours are theatres of air
where I watch you entranced.
Then the sun's light going down from the sky
is the length of your back.
Then the evening bells over the rooftops
are lovers' vows.
Then the river staring up, lovesick for the moon,
is my long night.
Then the stars between us are love
urging its light.
”
”
Carol Ann Duffy (Rapture)
“
Two weeks later, without formal goodbyes, he heads to Bethel Ashram in Travancore. This monastic retreat was founded by a priest, BeeYay Achen, who is guided by the writings of Saint Basil on the pursuit of manual labor, silence, and prayer in order to become closer to the Creator. He was one of the first priests to get a BA, and no one knows him by any other name than BeeYay Achen. He encourages Rune by quiet example: service, prayer, and silence. After seven months, a leaner, almost unrecognizable Rune emerges like a butterfly from its chrysalis, sure of its destination, even if its flight is erratic. The beard, the joy, and the belly laugh are intact, but he is burning with a mystical sense of purpose.
”
”
Abraham Verghese (The Covenant of Water)
“
By the time she had picked every visible corpse off her property, the heap included ants, beetles and cockroaches, different kinds of spiders, some bees, flies, a wasp, two fetid lizard skins and the brittle remains of their skeletons, six butterflies, a stick insect the length of her forearm, two dragonflies, a handful of crickets and other creatures that in the world of naming remained untitled. The collection measured a full hand deep. She paid no attention to the odour rising out of the bucket. The scent of decay was not offensive to her. It was the aroma of life refusing to end. It was the aroma of transformation. Such odour was proof that nothing truly ended, and she revelled in it as much as she did the cereus blossoms along the back wall of the house.
”
”
Shani Mootoo (Cereus Blooms at Night)
“
There is a flower that Bees prefer—
And Butterflies—desire—
To gain the Purple Democrat
The Humming Bird—aspire—
And Whatsoever Insect pass—
A Honey bear away
Proportioned to his several dearth
And her—capacity—
Her face be rounder than the Moon
And ruddier than the Gown
Or Orchis in the Pasture—
Or Rhododendron—worn—
She doth not wait for June—
Before the World be Green—
Her sturdy little Countenance
Against the Wind—be seen—
Contending with the Grass—
Near Kinsman to Herself—
For Privilege of Sod and Sun—
Sweet Litigants for Life—
And when the Hills be full—
And newer fashions blow—
Doth not retract a single spice
For pang of jealousy—
Her Public—be the Noon—
Her Providence—the Sun—
Her Progress—by the Bee—proclaimed—
In sovereign—Swerveless Tune—
The Bravest—of the Host—
Surrendering—the last—
Nor even of Defeat—aware—
What cancelled by the Frost—
”
”
Emily Dickinson
“
There is a flower that Bees prefer —
And Butterflies — desire —
To gain the Purple Democrat
The Humming Bird — aspire —
And Whatsoever Insect pass —
A Honey bear away
Proportioned to his several dearth
And her — capacity —
Her face be rounder than the Moon
And ruddier than the Gown
Of Orchis in the Pasture —
Or Rhododendron — worn —
She doth not wait for June —
Before the World be Green —
Her sturdy little Countenance
Against the Wind — be seen —
Contending with the Grass —
Near Kinsman to Herself —
For Privilege of Sod and Sun —
Sweet Litigants for Life —
And when the Hills be full —
And newer fashions blow —
Doth not retract a single spice
For pang of jealousy —
Her Public — be the Noon —
Her Providence — the Sun —
Her Progress — by the Bee — proclaimed —
In sovereign — Swerveless Tune —
The Bravest — of the Host —
Surrendering — the last —
Nor even of Defeat — aware —
When cancelled by the Frost —
”
”
Emily Dickinson (Emily Dickinson)
“
They say that Ridley is a very visual director and he’s indifferent with actors. He’s obviously changed over the years, but I’ll never forget this one sequence. We had wind machines going full blast, we had unicorns, smoke effects, moonbeams coming down, we had all these pigeons dyed different colours, we had a bear eating honey, we had bees floating around, butterflies and sparrows, we had everything. We were in the studio from seven o’clock in the morning until two, without breaking for lunch, preparing this one shot. When Ridley had everything right he shouted, ‘Shoot, for Christ’s sake shoot!’ And old Bill Westley, the AD, turned around and said, ‘What about the max factors then guv?’ meaning the actors. And Ridley went, ‘Oh fuck. Quick, go and get them.’ And Bill rushed out and brought Tom Cruise and Mia Sara on and Ridley went, ‘Ah, OK Tom you sit over there and Mia you sit next to him and just talk among yourselves. OK. And action!
”
”
Vic Armstrong (The True Adventures of the World's Greatest Stuntman)
“
This Butterfly Stings by Stewart Stafford
The gold of my eye dances on stage for me,
Her wings wafting behind her in the chorus,
Yet none glimpsed that girl's beauty as I did,
This butterfly flew solo in my mind's eye.
For two years hence, I concealed my interest,
Yet I gazed at her endlessly, so close yet apart,
Places of learning changed, but she did not,
I foolishly let fly Cupid's token to my inamorata.
Seeing my love in a looking glass reflected,
Shadow feelings illuminated St Valentine's Eve,
My butterfly became a sullen stinging bee,
Crushing my tender rose in pieces at my feet.
Nor would her wicked scorn end there,
She told her friends who joined in my shaming,
For years after, turning my last shreds of adoration,
Into contemptuous hatred of her existence.
Truly no one can take away our memories,
Where my former crush still dances on occasion,
O sweet butterfly of my youth, one last wish,
Never fly away from these fond recollections.
© Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.
”
”
Stewart Stafford
“
Alliance (Sonata)"
Of dusty gazes fallen down to the soil
or leaves without sound and entombing.
Of metals without light, with the void,
with the absence of the dead day of coup.
At the top of the hands the dazzle of butterflies,
the start of butterflies whose light has no end.
You were keeping the trail of light, of broken beings
that the sun abandoned, getting dark, throws to the churches.
Stained with glances, with the aim of bees,
your material of unexpected flame fleeing
coming before and after the day and to your family of gold.
The days stalked they cross the secrecy
but fall inside of your voice of light.
Oh proprietress of love, on your rest
I founded my dream, my silent attitude.
With your body of shy number, extended suddenly
until quantities that define the earth,
behind the fight of the white days of space
and chills of slow deaths and withered stimuli,
I feel burn your lap and move your kisses
making fresh swallows in my dream.
Sometimes the fate of your tears amounts
as the age up to my forehead, there
they are striking the waves, being destroyed of death:
its’ movement is damp, depressed, final.
”
”
Pablo Neruda (Residence on Earth)
“
Alliance (Sonata) "
Of dusty glances fallen to the ground
or of soundless leaves burying themselves.
Of metals without light, with the emptiness,
with the absence of the suddenly dead day.
At the tip of the hands the dazzlement of butterflies,
the upflight of butterflies whose light has no end.
You kept the trail of light, of broken beings
that the abandoned sun, sinking, casts at the churches.
Stained with glances, dealing with bees,
your substance fleeing from unexpected flame
precedes and follows the day and its family of gold.
The spying days cross in secret
but they fall within your voice of light.
Oh mistress of love, in your rest
I established my dream, my silent attitude.
With your body of timid number, suddenly extended
to the quantities that define the earth,
behind the struggle of the days white with space
and cold with slow deaths and withered stimuli,
I feel your lap burn and your kisses travel
shaping fresh swallows in my sleep.
At times the destiny of your tears ascends
like age to my forehead, there
the waves are crashing, smashing themselves to death:
their movement is moist, drifting, ultimate.
”
”
Pablo Neruda (The Poetry of Pablo Neruda)
“
She closed her eyes and listened to the drone of bees as they moved lazily among the flowering bursts of deep pink hydrangea and delicate tendrils of sweet pea that wound through the basket-bed borders. Although she was still very weak, it was pleasant to sit in warm lethargy, half-drowsing like a cat.
She was slow to respond when she heard a sound from the doorway... a single light rap, as if the visitor was reluctant to disrupt her reverie with a loud knock. Blinking her sun-dazzled eyes, Annabelle remained sitting with her legs tucked beneath her. The mass of light speckles gradually faded from her vision, and she found herself staring at Simon Hunt's dark, lean form. He had leaned part of his weight on the doorjamb, bracing a shoulder against it in an unselfconsciously rakish pose. His head was slightly tilted as he considered her with an unfathomable expression.
Annabelle's pulse escalated to a mad clatter. As usual, Hunt was dressed impeccably, but the gentlemanly attire did nothing to disguise the virile energy that seemed to emanate from him. She recalled the hardness of his arms and chest as he had carried her, the touch of his hands on her body... oh, she would never be able to look at him again without remembering!
"You look like a butterfly that's just flown in from the garden," Hunt said softly.
”
”
Lisa Kleypas (Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1))
“
Is that an orchid?" I asked, pointing to a particularly unattractive small brown plant.
"Maxillaria tenuifolia," said Sonali. "One of my favorites. This little brown orchid is a species. Not as spectacular as a hybrid, but very satisfying nonetheless. Its charms are quite powerful. Come closer and smell it."
I leaned over the ugly brown plant.
"Coconut pie! How is that possible?"
"Wonderful, isn't it? She doesn't need bright, flashy colors or spectacular sprays of flowers. Her pollinators, the moths, come out at night. She uses her coconut scent to guide and entice the little moth in much the way we use perfume to entice men in nightclubs and cafés."
Sonali winked at me.
"You can learn much about how an orchid is pollinated by the way it looks. White, pink, and pale-green flowers usually get pollinated at night, since those colors are easily seen under moonlight. The little moth sneaks up on the flower in the middle of the night like a lover. He lands on her, pollinates her, and then leaves. We've all had that experience, yes?"
"Yes," I said, thinking of Exley.
"Brightly colored orchids, on the other hand, are pollinated by butterflies and birds. Butterflies prefer red and orange. Bees love orange and yellow all the way through to ultraviolet."
"Just like certain men like certain color clothing," I said.
"Yes, colored petals are the clothing of flowers. The insect must find a way through those petals to get what he wants, like a man brushing his hand through the layers of a woman's skirt.
”
”
Margot Berwin (Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire)
“
even bees can
feel like butterflies.
don't get stung.
”
”
Lauren Porter (Shattered Pieces)
“
How is it that the millions who care about this planet, are outweighed by the few who don’t...
By ig oliver
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
Was it the thought to write, that changed us, or was it the thought that we should. Imagine
By ig Oliver
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
Our world is full of gold, words cannot describe them all, we must learn to see them clearly first, to understand them.
By ig oliver.
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
We all know Santa’s real, and how he likes to hide. “Where? You ask? Well open your hearts and you’ll hear his call. “Jingle bells Jingle bells Merry Christmas” Then we can all... be Santa Claus.
By ig Oliver
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
We take, because we can as humans, but we should remember nature is bigger, so we need to give back as much as we take, so not to anger the `gods’.
By ig Oliver.
”
”
Ig Oliver (The Butterfly BeeLady and the Bee)
“
Let's imagine... if you glimpsed the future, you were frightened by what you saw, what would you do with that information? You would go to... the politicians, captains of industry? And how would you convince them? Data? Facts? Good luck! The only facts they won't challenge are the ones that keep the wheels greased and the dollars rolling in. But what if... what if there was a way of skipping the middle man and putting the critical news directly into everyone's head? The probability of wide-spread annihilation kept going up. The only way to stop it was to show it. To scare people straight. Because, what reasonable human being wouldn't be galvanized by the potential destruction of everything they've ever known or loved? To save civilization, I would show its collapse. But, how do you think this vision was received? How do you think people responded to the prospect of imminent doom? They gobbled it up like a chocolate eclair! They didn't fear their demise, they re-packaged it. It could be enjoyed as video-games, as TV shows, books, movies, the entire world wholeheartedly embraced the apocalypse and sprinted towards it with gleeful abandon. Meanwhile, your Earth was crumbling all around you. You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one! Bees and butterflies start to disappear, the glaciers melt, algae blooms. All around you the coal mine canaries are dropping dead and you won't take the hint! In every moment there's the possibility of a better future, but you people won't believe it. And because you won't believe it you won't do what is necessary to make it a reality. So, you dwell on this terrible future. You resign yourselves to it for one reason, because *that* future does not ask anything of you today. So yes, we saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic. But you all just steered for it anyway, full steam ahead. Why? Because you want to sink! You gave up!
”
”
Hugh Laurie playing Governor Nix in Tommorowland
“
ALI He was butterfly and bee. In the ring, he floated and stung. In 1967, Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, refused to put on a uniform. “Got nothing against no Viet Cong,” he said. “Ain’t no Vietnamese ever called me nigger.” They called him a traitor. They sentenced him to a five-year jail term, and barred him from boxing. They stripped him of his title as champion of the world. The punishment became his trophy. By taking away his crown, they anointed him king. Years later, a few college students asked him to recite something. And for them he improvised the shortest poem in world literature: “Me, we.
”
”
Eduardo Galeano (Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone)
“
butterfly garden is comprised of purple coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, butterfly bush, phlox, milkweed, monarda—or bee balm, as I prefer to call it—lots of plants with luscious nectar that caterpillars love to eat and adult butterflies love to feed upon. I also have ornamental grasses scattered throughout to provide shade and places to hide. But butterflies and bees seem to love my purple coneflower more than anything. They are attracted by its color and stay for its nectar. As if on cue,
”
”
Viola Shipman (The Heirloom Garden)
“
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~ George Cooper
”
”
Tammy Lockamy (Where Are You Mary? (The Bentley Family Adventures #1))
“
An article in this month’s National Geographic magazine quotes a scientist referring to the “undistractibility” of these animals on their journeys. “An arctic tern on its way from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska, for instance, will ignore a nice smelly herring offered from a bird-watcher’s boat in Monterey Bay. Local gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, while the tern flies on. Why?” The article’s author, David Quammen, attempts an answer, saying “the arctic tern resists distraction because it is driven at that moment by an instinctive sense of something we humans find admirable: larger purpose.”
In the same article, biologist Hugh Dingle notes that these migratory patterns reveal five shared characteristics: the journeys take the animals outside their natural habitat; they follow a straight path and do not zigzag; they involve advance preparation, such as overfeeding; they require careful allocations of energy; and finally, “migrating animals maintain a fervid attentiveness to the greater mission, which keeps them undistracted by temptations and undeterred by challenges that would turn other animals aside.” In other words, they are pilgrims with a purpose.
In the case of the arctic tern, whose journey is 28,000 miles, “it senses it can eat later.” It can rest later. It can mate later. Its implacable focus is the journey; its singular intent is arrival. Elephants, snakes, sea snakes, sea turtles, myriad species of birds, butterflies, whales, dolphins, bison, bees, insects, antelopes, wildebeests, eels, great white sharks, tree frogs, dragon flies, crabs, Pacific blue tuna, bats, and even microorganisms – all of them have distinct migratory patterns, and all of them congregate in a special place, even if, as individuals, they have never been there before.
-Hamza Yusuf on the Hajj of Community
”
”
Hamza Yusuf
“
Lucy liked to chase bees as much as she did butterflies and had been stung on the nose before.
”
”
Angie Fox (Give Up the Ghost (Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries, #11))
“
Butterfly and bee,
amidst blossoms, dance with glee.
In nature's symphony.
Butterfly's flutter,
Bee sips from a blossom's heart,
Nature's silent tale.
Petals cradle dreams,
Bee hums, weaving life's stories,
Harmony unveiled.
Delicate wings touch,
Nature whispers resilience,
A nuanced ballet.
In the dance of blooms,
A symphony of co-existence,
Lessons quietly shared.
”
”
Monika Ajay Kaul
“
I was a living Buddha back then, the local stork. A floral perfume oozed from my body, bees swarmed in my wake. So did butterflies. Now, now nothing but goddamn flies …
”
”
Mo Yan (Frog)
“
- [ ] Without bugs, there are no fruits or vegetables, so I will court the crap out of the bees and the butterflies. I will seduce them with flowery-sweet nectar and scintillating aromas until they bow to my whims and pollinate my vegetables like horny rabbits.
”
”
Imogen Keeper (After the Plague (Volumes 1, 2 & 3))
“
She floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee
”
”
Chloe Walsh (Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen, #2))
“
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleepy, little baby
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses
Way down yonder in the meadow
Lies a poor little lambie
Bees and butterflies, picking out its eyes...
”
”
Lauren DeStefano (A Curious Tale of the In-Between)