Quotes about horses
page 2

“I'm about to commence four years of obeying the cause of a bruiser on a horse. I refuse to put down what might be the last book I see for months.”

Tamora Pierce (1954) American writer of fantasy novels for children

Books

“Everything - a horse, a vine - is created for some duty… For what task, then, were you yourself created?”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

“Oh! if people knew what a comfort to a horse a light hand is…”

Anna Sewell book Black Beauty

Source: Black Beauty

People, Light

“I should learn to run, to wrestle, to swim, to ride horses, to row, to drive a car, to fire a rifle. I should fill my soul with flesh. I should fill my flesh with soul. In fact, I should reconcile at last within me the two internal antagonists.”

Nikos Kazantzakis book Zorba the Greek

Source: Zorba the Greek

Cars, Soul, Learning

“And woman is the same as horses: two wills act in opposition inside her. With one will she wants to subject herself utterly. With the other she wants to bolt, and pitch her rider to perdition.”

D.H. Lawrence book Women in Love

Source: Women in Love

“Horses were never wrong. They always did what they did for a reason, and it was up to you to figure it out.”

Jeannette Walls book Half Broke Horses

Source: Half Broke Horses

“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

Joanne Harris (1964) British author

Source: The Girl with No Shadow

“By your logic I should also be in charge of Solinade dances, needlework, and horse thieving.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Dance

“Damn everything but the circus!… The average 'painter' 'sculptor' 'poet' 'composer' 'playwright' is a person who cannot leap through a hoop from the back of a galloping horse, make people laugh with a clown's mouth, orchestrate twenty lions.”

E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet

People, Personality

“I don't like people," said Velvet. "… I only like horses.”

Enid Bagnold book National Velvet

Source: National Velvet

People

“Three things trust and cherish well-
The horse on which you ride,
The beast that guards and watches,
And your shield-mate at your side.”

Mercedes Lackey book By the Sword

Source: By the Sword

“Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.”

Stephen Leacock (1869–1944) writer and economist

"Gertrude the Governess", Nonsense Novels (1911)

“You’re going to have to learn to ride a horse on your own, Phaedra', he said. 'It will make the journey faster.'

'The mule and I have an agreement.'

'The mule and you have similar traits.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Quintana of Charyn

Learning

“High on a rocky promontory sat an Electric Monk on a bored horse.”

Douglas Adams book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Source: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

“It's easy to talk to a horse if you understand his language. Horses stay the same from the day they are born until the day they die. They are only changed by the way people treat them.”

Laura Hillenbrand book Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Source: Seabiscuit: An American Legend

People, Way, Understanding, Change

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.” —MARGERY WILLIAMS”

Jenny Han book P.S. I Still Love You

Source: P.S. I Still Love You

Truth, Hurt

“Whathat!" Tyson gasped.
"Those are the stables for the pegasi," I replied, "You know, winged horses?"
"Whasthat!"
"Um… those are the toilets.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

“I'd call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Dead

“It has been a mistake living my life in the past. One cannot ride a horse backwards and still hold its reins.”

Richard Paul Evans (1962) American writer

Life, Past

“On the other hand it was bad manners to look a gift horse in the mouth. Even if you're getting it from an overweight cracker in a fringe shirt.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Bites

“The father’s job is to teach his children how to be warriors, to give them the confidence to get on the horse to ride into battle when it’s necessary to do so. If you don’t get that from your father, you have to teach yourself.”

Cheryl Strayed book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Source: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Children, Confidence

“A swift carriage, of a dark night, rattling with four horses over roads that one can’t see--that’s my idea of happiness.”

Henry James book The Portrait of a Lady

Source: The Portrait of a Lady

Idea, Night, Happiness

“Got to keep losing horses," he said drowsily. "Bad habit.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: Erak's Ransom

“He was Death, and he'd ridden in on a pale horse…”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Invincible

Death

“Please, Percy… change your clothes. You smell like you've been run over by an electric horse.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

Change, Clothes

“Mulch's tongue lolled out, resting on the centaur's neck. "Mmm," he mumbled around his tongue. "Horse. Tasty"

"Let's go," said Foaly nervously. "Let's go right now.”

Eoin Colfer (1965) Irish author of children's books

Source: The Atlantis Complex

“Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.”

W.C. Fields (1880–1946) actor

People, Sense

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Henry Ford (1863–1947) American industrialist

Patrick Vlaskovits, " Henry Ford, Innovation, and That “Faster Horse” Quote https://hbr.org/2011/08/henry-ford-never-said-the-fast," in Harvard Business Review, August 29, 2011. <br class="br">Misattributed

Powerful, People

“Tug looked nervously at his master.
Horses aren't supposed to fly, he seemed to be saying.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: Erak's Ransom

Flying

“A few said they'd be horses. Most said they'd be some sort of cat. My friend said she'd like to come back as a porcupine. I don't like crowds, she said.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Cats

“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he/she will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Life, Game, Passion, Change

“In that moment, he chose Greek. He threw in his lot with Camp Half-Blood-and the horses changed. The storm clouds inside burned away, leaving nothing but red dust and shimmering heat, like mirages on the Sahara.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Change

“Let me say to you what I said once, in an entirely different context to Catherine the Great," Magnus declared. "My dear lady, you cannot afford me, and also, please leave that horse alone. Good night.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Midnight Heir

Night

“I make that four horses and ten men just to get rid of one old woman. What did youto the King?”

Diana Wynne Jones book Howl's Moving Castle

Source: Howl's Moving Castle

Men

“Poseidon,' said Chiron. 'Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”

Rick Riordan book The Lightning Thief

Variant: Earthshaker, Stormbreaker, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God
Source: The Lightning Thief

God, Sea

“We're like pretty horses, and just as on horses, they mean to put blinders on us so we can't look left or right but only straight ahead where they would lead.”

Libba Bray book The Sweet Far Thing

Source: The Sweet Far Thing

“She wanted more, more slang, more figures of speech, the bee's knees, the cats pajamas, horse of a different color, dog-tired, she wanted to talk like she was born here, like she never came from anywhere else”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Dogs, Color, Cats, Bee

“You're in a horse race but you're thinking like a sheep. Sheep don't win horse races.”

Jeannette Walls book The Glass Castle

Source: The Glass Castle

Thinking

“Who the hell would attack the Steel Horse anyway? What was the thinking behind that? “Here is a bar full of psychotic killers who grow giant claws and people who pilot the undead for a living. I think I’ll go wreck the place.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Bleeds

People, Hell, Thinking

“I smiled. "So this horse is your nephew, Sam?"
She glared at me. "Let's not go there."
"How did your dad father a horse?"
Blitzen coughed. "Actually, Loki was Sleipnir's mother."
"What--?"
"Let'snot go there," Sam warned.”

Rick Riordan book The Sword of Summer

Source: The Sword of Summer

Smile

“Today my winged horse is coming and I am carrying you off to the moon and on the moon we will eat rose petals.”

Shirley Jackson book We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Source: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

“it doesn't matter if Prince Charles falls off his horse
or that the hummingbird is so seldom
seen
or that we are too senseless to go
insane.

coffee. give us more of that NOTHING
coffee.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense

Coffee

“The only thing about a man that is a man… is his mind. Everything else you can find in a pig or a horse.”

Archibald Macleish (1892–1982) American poet and Librarian of Congress

“I hate horses. I know people who think that they are noble, graceful animals, but regardless of what a horse looks like from a distance, never forget that it's as likely to step on your foot as look at you.”

Megan Whalen Turner The Thief

Source: The Thief

Hate, People, Thinking, Animals

“One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

Bird

“On the moon we have everything. Lettuce, and pumpkin pie and Amanita phalloides. We have cat-furred plants and horses dancing with their wings. All the locks are solid and tight, and there are no ghosts.”

Shirley Jackson book We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Source: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Cats, Dance

“You spoil your horse, Halt said.
Will glanced at him. You spoil yours.
Halt considered the thought, then nodded. That's true.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: The Kings of Clonmel

“You can't ride two horses with one behind.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

“changing horses doesn't mean the ride'll get any better!”

Eric Jerome Dickey (1961) American author

Source: Liar's Game

Change

“She would be a new person, she vowed. They said no matter how far a mule travels it can never come back a horse, but she would show them all.”

Junot Díaz book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Source: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Travel, Personality

“If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride. (Dark-Hunter)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Sins of the Night

“There is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

According to The quote verifier: who said what, where, and when (2006), Keyes, Macmillan, p. 91 ISBN 0312340044 , the cover of a trade magazine once credited this observation to Churchill, but it dates back well into the nineteenth century, and has been variously attributed to Henry Ward Beecher, Oliver Wendell Holmes, w:Theodore Roosevelt, w:Thomas Jefferson, w:Will Rogers and Lord Palmerston, among others. One documented use in Social Silhouettes (1906) by George William Erskine Russell, p. 218 wherein a character attributes the saying to Lord Palmerston.
Misattributed

“Those who get in the way of love's path will be kicked by horses.
~Kyoya”

Bisco Hatori (1975) Japanese manga artist

Source: Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 17

Love, Way

“He ate my horse.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Well of Ascension

“A horse must be a bit mad to be a good cavalry mount, and its rider must be completely so.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

Madness

“Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

As quoted by Josiah Quincy III, in Looking Toward Sunset : From Sources Old and New, Original and Selected (1865) by Lydia Maria Francis Child, p. 431
Attributed

Exercises

“You can’t blame me,” Ascanio said. “Anybody in my place would be concerned. You don’t even have a proper horse. You’re riding a mutant equine of unknown origin.”
“Don’t disrespect my donkey”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

“Now," said Halt, "all I have to do is work out a way of beating these horse-riding devils."
Erak grinned at him. "That should be child's play," he said. "The hard part will be convincing Ragnak about it.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: The Battle for Skandia

Way, Parting

“You can kiss me if you like," she said.

Alex let go of her and turned away. "Thanks, Fiona," he said. "But frankly I'd prefer to kiss the horse.”

Anthony Horowitz book Point Blanc

Source: Point Blank

Kiss

“I want a magical horse that fits in my pocket," Wil said. "And a ring of red amber that gives me power over demons. And an endless supply of cake.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

“God alert!" Blackjack yelled. "It's the wine dude!
Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

God, Wine, Personality

“This is me apologizing. I am a fool, a bird-brain, a liar and a horse-thief. I wouldn't touch a superlative again with an umbrella.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

Fools, Bird

“Dear God. Not only am I unemployed and homeless, but I also have a pregnant woman, bereaved dog, elephant, and eleven horses to take care of.”

Sara Gruen book Water for Elephants

Source: Water for Elephants

God, Dogs

“You never want to look in a mirror," Lula said. "Men love mirrors. They look at themselves doing the deed and they see Rex the Wonder Horse. Women look at themselves and think they need to renew their membership at the gym.”

Janet Evanovich book Seven Up

Source: Seven Up

Love, Women, Men, Thinking

“Employers are like horses — they require management.”

P.G. Wodehouse book Carry On, Jeeves

Source: Carry on, Jeeves

“You know, if my life was a horse, I’d shoot it. (Susan)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Dark Side of the Moon

Life

“Grandpa Patterson used to say: Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any direction.”

Debbie Macomber (1948) American writer

Source: Texas Two-Step

Fools

“Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

As quoted in A Joke, a Quote, & the Word : Feed Your Body, Soul and Spirit (2006) by Ronald P. Keeven, p. 147

Sense, Success

“Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

As quoted in the United States of America Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 105th Congress Second Session, Government Printing Office, Vol. 144, Part 4, p. 5738 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nEI6WcjH8ykC&pg=PA5738 <br class="br">Post-war years (1945–1955)

People

“If not for the horses, Piper would've died.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

“That's the thing about the internet. It's really good at giving you pointless facts like how many horses a star owns, but not important things like how to invade his trailer.”

Janette Rallison (1966) American writer

Source: Just One Wish

Star

“…. A goodlookin horse is like a goodlookin woman, he said. They’re always more trouble than what they’re worth. What a man needs is just one that will get the job done.”

Cormac McCarthy book All the Pretty Horses

Source: All the Pretty Horses (1992)

“No wonder he was so good with horses, I thought blearily, feeling his fingers rubbing gently behind my ears, listening to the soothing, incomprehensible speech. If I were a horse, I’d let him ride me anywhere.”

Diana Gabaldon book Outlander

Source: Outlander

Feeling

“Someday you'll have to show me how you did that," Asharak was saying. "I found the experience interesting. My horse had hysterics, however."
"My apologies to your horse.”

David Eddings book Queen of Sorcery

Source: Queen of Sorcery

“Crooked cards and straight whiskey,
Slow horses and fast women.”

Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982) American poet, writer, anarchist, academic and conscientious objector

Women

“But what truly horsey girls discover in the end is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and careers are the substitute-for horses”

Jane Smiley (1949) American novelist

Source: A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck

Children, Girl

“There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it's the risk, the gamble. In any event it's a thing I need.”

William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer

As quoted in "Visit to Two-Finger Typist" by Elliot Chaze in LIFE magazine (14 July 1961)

Feeling

“What he loved in horses was what he loved in men, the blood and the heat of the blood that ran them. All his reverence and all his fondness and all the leanings of his life were for the ardenhearted and they would always be so and never be otherwise.”

Cormac McCarthy book All the Pretty Horses

Source: All the Pretty Horses

Love, Life, Men

“The stallion stared in my direction and bared his teeth. Now horses were giving me crap.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Gifts

“Okay," Juke said. "Your horse is a donkey, your poodle is a giant wolf breed, and your boyfriend is whatever the hell he is. You have problems.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Shifts

Hell, Problem, Wolf

“As he poured carefully, Arrow's head turned toward the sound. The horse made a low grumbling noise in his throat.
"Hold your horses," he said. The he laughed. It seemed absurd to say tat to a horse.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: Erak's Ransom

“No offense, but I'd rather kiss the horse.”

Anthony Horowitz book Point Blanc

Source: Point Blank

Kiss

“When you get tired of worrying and mourning your horse and trying not to be afraid, tell me and I'll do it for you a while so you can shut your eyes and sleep peaceful.”

Shannon Hale The Goose Girl

Source: The Goose Girl

Peace, Sleep

“Hazel blinked. “Two gods had a horse for a kid?”
“Long story.”

Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune

Source: The Son of Neptune

God

“If you feed enough oats to the horse, some will pass through to feed the sparrows (referring to "trickle down" economics).”

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) American economist and diplomat

"Recession Economics," New York Review of Books, Volume 29, Number 1 (4 February 1982)
Context: Mr. David Stockman has said that supply-side economics was merely a cover for the trickle-down approach to economic policy— what an older and less elegant generation called the horse-and-sparrow theory: If you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows.

“When the horse was little, Massie had covered the walls with posters of young fillies that she thought Brownie would find sexy.”

Lisi Harrison (1970) Canadian writer

Source: Revenge of the Wannabes

“Good luck, boss. Don't let'em turn you into horse meat! (Blackjack)”

Rick Riordan book The Last Olympian

Source: The Last Olympian