Quotes about weather
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Janet Evanovich photo
James Patterson photo
O. Henry photo

“He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.”

O. Henry (1862–1910) American short story writer

Source: Selected Stories

Deanna Raybourn photo

“One is not born English without knowing how to converse easily about the weather.”

Deanna Raybourn (1968) American writer

Source: Dark Road to Darjeeling

Albert Einstein photo
Charles Bukowski photo
Thornton Wilder photo

“Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure.”

Source: Our Town

Henry David Thoreau photo
Martha Graham photo

“Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it.”

Martha Graham (1894–1991) American dancer and choreographer

I Am A Dancer (1952)
Context: The body is shaped, disciplined, honoured, and in time, trusted. The movement becomes clean, precise, eloquent, truthful. Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it. This might be called the law of the dancer's life — the law which governs the outer aspects.

Haruki Murakami photo
Ray Comfort photo
Jane Austen photo
Alastair Reynolds photo
Jimmy Buffett photo
Charles Dudley Warner photo

“A well known American writer said once that, while everybody talked about the weather, nobody seemed to do anything about it.”

Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American writer

Editorial, Hartford Courant (27 August 1897); this remark was reportedly quoted by Mark Twain and it has become often attributed to him, but the context of the statement might indicate the contrary situation
Paraphrased variant: Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.
Variant: Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

A.A. Milne photo
Albert Jay Nock photo
Vitruvius photo
Richard Feynman photo

“On the contrary, it's because somebody knows something about it that we can't talk about physics. It's the things that nobody knows anything about that we can discuss. We can talk about the weather; we can talk about social problems; we can talk about psychology; we can talk about international finance — gold transfers we can't talk about, because those are understood — so it's the subject that nobody knows anything about that we can all talk about!”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

Rejoinder when told that he couldn't talk about physics, because "nobody [at this table] knows anything about it."
Part 5: "The World of One Physicist", "Alfred Nobel's Other Mistake", p. 310.
Quoted in Handbook of Economic Growth (2005) by Philippe Aghion and Steven N. Durlauf.
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (1985)

“My fathering had always taken the form of a friendly cloud that floated across the lives of the children, and paused occasionally to cast a shadow. That they would turn out to have their own weather, and that I would profit by the climate, was an immense satisfaction.”

John Leonard (1939–2008) American critic, writer, and commentator

"The Fathering Instinct" http://books.google.com/books?id=EbQbAQAAMAAJ&q=%22My+fathering+had+always+taken+the+form+of+a+friendly+cloud+that+floated+across+the+lives+of+the+children+and+paused+occasionally+to+cast+a+shadow+That+they+would+turn+out+to+have+their+own+weather+and+that+I+would+profit+by+the+climate+was+an+immense+satisfaction%22&pg=PA112#v=onepage, Ms. magazine, May 1974

Walt Whitman photo

“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done!
The ship has weathered every wrack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting.”

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist

Memories of President Lincoln. O Captain! my Captain!
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

Leopoldo Galtieri photo
Wallace Stevens photo
Winthrop Mackworth Praed photo
Paul Gabriël photo

“Although I can look a bit grumpy myself, I love it when the sun shines in the water, but besides that I think my country is colored and what I particularly noticed when I came from abroad: our country is colored sappy fat, that's why our beautiful- colored and built cattle, their flesh, milk and butter, nowhere you can find this, but they [the cows] are also fed by that sappy, greasy and colored land - I have often heard strangers say, those Dutch painters all paint gray and their land is green.... the more I observe the more colored and transparent nature becomes and then the air seen altogether, something very different and yet so [strong] in harmony, it is delightful when one has learned to see, because that too must be learned, I repeat, our country is not gray, even not in gray weather, the dunes aren't gray either.”

Paul Gabriël (1828–1903) painter (1828-1903)

translation from the Dutch original: Fons Heijnsbroek
version in original Dutch / citaat van Paul Gabriël, in Nederlands: Alhoewel ik er zelf wat knorrig uit kan zien houd ik er veel van dat het zonnetje in het water schijnt, maar buiten dat ik vind mijn land gekleurd en wat mij bijzonder opviel wanneer ik uit den vreemde kwam: ons land is gekleurd sappig vet, vandaar onze schoone gekleurde en gebouwde runderen, hun vleesch melk en boter, nergens vind men dat zoo maar ze worden ook door dat sappige vette en gekleurde land gevoed - ik heb vreemdelingen dikwijls horen zeggen, die Hollandsche schilders schilderen allemaal grijs en hun land is groen.. ..hoe meer ik opserveer hoe gekleurder en transparanter de natuur word en dan de lucht erbij gezien een heel ander iets en toch zoo in harmonie, het is verrukkelijk wanneer men heeft leeren zien, want ook dat moet geleerd worden, ik herhaal het ons land is niet grijs, zelfs niet bij grijs weer, de duinen zijn ook niet grijs.
written note of Paul Gabriël, 1901; as cited in De Haagse School. Hollandse meesters van de 19de eeuw, ed. R. de Leeuw, J. Sillevis en C. Dumas); exhibition. cat. - Parijs, Grand Palais / Londen, Royal Academy of Arts / Den Haag, Haags Gemeentemuseum, Parijs, Londen, Den Haag 1983, p.183 - 23
after 1900

Mike Rosen photo
Emily Brontë photo
Daniel Handler photo
Horatio Nelson photo

“I cannot command winds and weather.”

Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) Royal Navy Admiral

As quoted in Letters and Despatches of Horatio, Viscount Nelson, K.B. (1886) edited by John Knox Laughton, p. 99
1800s

Bill Hicks photo
Stella Adler photo

“You can't be boring. Life is boring. The weather is boring. Actors must not be boring.”

Stella Adler (1901–1992) American actress and teaching coach

Obituary in New York Times

John A. Eddy photo
Richard Dawkins photo
Dante Gabriel Rossetti photo

“The sun was gone now; the curl'd moon
Was like a little feather
Fluttering far down the gulf; and now
She spoke through the still weather.
Her voice was like the voice the stars
Had when they sang together.”

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) English poet, illustrator, painter and translator

The Blessed Damozel http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/715.html (1850)

Ernest Flagg photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
Brian Clevinger photo
Horatio Nelson photo

“Bonaparte has often made his boast, that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea, that his was kept in order, and increasing, by staying in port; but he now finds, I fancy, if emperors hear truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night, than ours in one year; however, thank God, the Toulon fleet is got in order again, and I hear the troops embarked, and I hope they will come out to sea in fine weather.”

Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) Royal Navy Admiral

From a letter to Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, written while aboard HMS Victory and dated (14 March 1805), quoted in full in The Naval History of Great Britain from the year 1783 to 1822 by Captain Edward Pelham Brenton (1824), Vol III, p. 406
1800s

Carole King photo
Pierre-Auguste Renoir photo
William Gibson photo
Richard Strauss photo

“Man (in B major) asks: When? When? Nature, (in C Major) answers from the depths Never, never, never will the weather improve.”

Richard Strauss (1864–1949) German composer and orchestra director

Whilst composing Also Sprach Zarthustra, Strauss made this joke about the Bavaria weather to his friend, the conductor Max von Schillings. Quoted in Kurt Wilhelm, Richard Strauss - an intimate portrait, page 73.
Other sources

Anton Mauve photo

“I am busy working on a large painting with sheep; the last days I am working with real pleasure, the weather is.... not too hot and with nice skies. It's great here!!!! I shout with joy the whole day and more and more I desire to stay here until the end.”

Anton Mauve (1838–1888) Dutch painter (1838–1888)

translation from original Dutch, Fons Heijnsbroek, 2018
(version in original Dutch / origineel citaat van Anton Mauve, uit zijn brief:) Ik ben druk bezig aan een groot schilderij met schapen, in de laatste dagen ben ik met waar genoegen aan het werk, het weer is.. ..niet al te warm en mooie luchten. 't Is hier heerlijk!!!! Ik jubel steeds en verlang hoe langer hoe meer hier te blijven tot het einde.
In a letter of Mauve, from Laren 1885, to his student nl:Arina Hugenholtz, as quoted by Arina Hugenholtz in In Memoriam Anton Mauve; as cited in Van IJs naar Sneeuw - De ontwikkeling van het wintergezicht in de 19de eeuw, Arsine Nazarian, Juli 2008 Utrecht University; studentnummer: 0360953, p. 85
Mauve's mood was frequently moving between depression and cheerful moods, as many related people knew
1880's

Jorge VI photo

“You've been pretty unlucky with the weather, Mr Piper.”

Jorge VI (1895–1952) King of the United Kingdom

On seeing John Piper's dark views of Windsor Castle painted during the last war. Given in Times Literary Supplement, 7 October 1994, page 25.
Attributed

Aldous Huxley photo
Joni Madraiwiwi photo
Slash (musician) photo
Georges Braque photo

“One day I noticed that I could go on working art my motif no matter what the weather might be. I no longer needed the sun, for I took my light everywhere with me.”

Georges Braque (1882–1963) French painter and sculptor

Source: posthumous quotes, Braque', (1968), p. 30 - Braque's quote from the book, written by John Rusell, London 1959

Joseph Conrad photo
John Constable photo
Jeremy Clarkson photo
Chuck Lorre photo
Mark Strand photo
Robert Hayden photo
Richard Hovey photo

“For ’t is always fair weather
When good fellows get together
With a stein on the table and a good song ringing clear.”

Richard Hovey (1864–1900) American writer

"Spring", p. 60.
Along the Trail (1898)

Robert Falcon Scott photo

“The Beardmore Glacier is not difficult in fine weather, but on our return we did not get a single completely fine day; this with a sick companion enormously increased our anxieties.”

Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912) Royal Navy officer and explorer

Journal, 29 March 1912 http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/diaries/scottslastexpedition/

William McFee photo

“It is extraordinary how many emotional storms one may weather in safety if one is ballasted with ever so little gold.”

William McFee (1881–1966) American writer

Book I: The Suburb, Ch. X
Casuals of the Sea (1916)

Saki photo
Francis Escudero photo
Alastair Reynolds photo
Billy Connolly photo

“The religion in Scotland is one of the most patronising things… after the weather.”

Billy Connolly (1942) British comedian

An Audience With Billy - 1985

Camille Pissarro photo
Harry Turtledove photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Billy Connolly photo

“I hate all those weathermen, too, who tell you that rain is bad weather. There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little.”

Billy Connolly (1942) British comedian

Billy Connolly http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/biography/story/0,6000,556340,00.html
Book Sources

Bill Gates photo
Jozef Israëls photo
Ogden Nash photo

“The weather is so very mild
That some would call it warm.
Good gracious, aren't we lucky, child?
Here comes a thunderstorm.”

Ogden Nash (1902–1971) American poet

Many Long Years Ago (1945), A Watched Example Never Boils

David Hume photo
Alain photo
Alfred Horsley Hinton photo
Amit Chaudhuri photo
Najib Razak photo
Wendell Berry photo
James Salter photo
Thomas De Witt Talmage photo

“If your path had been smooth, you would have depended upon your own surefootedness; but God roughened the path, so you have to take hold of His hand. If the weather had been mild, you would have loitered along the watercourses, but at the first howl of the storm you quickened your pace heavenward and wrapped around you the warm robe of Saviour’s righteousness.”

Thomas De Witt Talmage (1832–1902) American Presbyterian preacher, clergyman and reformer during the mid-to late 19th century.

Thomas De Witt Talmage (1832-1902), The Pathway of Life, New York: The Christian Herald, 1894 p 100.
The Pathway of Life, New York: The Christian Herald, 1894

Peter D. Schiff photo
Wilbur Wright photo
James Kenneth Stephen photo
Ray Comfort photo
Aldous Huxley photo
Michio Kaku photo

“I say looking at the next 100 years that there are two trends in the world today. The first trend is toward what we call a type one civilization, a planetary civilization… The danger is the transition between type zero and type one and that’s where we are today. We are a type zero civilization. We get our energy from dead plants, oil and coal. But if you get a calculator you can calculate when we will attain type one status. The answer is: in about 100 years we will become planetary. We’ll be able to harness all the energy output of the planet earth. We’ll play with the weather, earthquakes, volcanoes. Anything planetary we will play with. The danger period is now, because we still have the savagery. We still have all the passions. We have all the sectarian, fundamentalist ideas circulating around, but we also have nuclear weapons. …capable of wiping out life on earth. So I see two trends in the world today. The first trend is toward a multicultural, scientific, tolerant society and everywhere I go I see aspects of that birth. For example, what is the Internet? Many people have written about the Internet. Billions and billions of words written about the Internet, but to me as a physicist the Internet is the beginning of a type one telephone system, a planetary telephone system. So we’re privileged to be alive to witness the birth of type one technology… And what is the European Union? The European Union is the beginning of a type one economy. And how come these European countries, which have slaughtered each other ever since the ice melted 10,000 years ago, how come they have banded together, put aside their differences to create the European Union? …so we’re beginning to see the beginning of a type one economy as well…”

Michio Kaku (1947) American theoretical physicist, futurist and author

"Will Mankind Destroy Itself?" http://bigthink.com/videos/will-mankind-destroy-itself (29 September 2010)

KT Tunstall photo
Ogden Nash photo

“Fear not the thunder, little one.
It's weather, simply weather;
It's friendly giants full of fun
Clapping their hands together.”

Ogden Nash (1902–1971) American poet

Many Long Years Ago (1945), A Watched Example Never Boils

Paul Cézanne photo

“If I dared, I should say that your [ Camille Pissarro ] letter is imprinted with sadness. The picture business isn't going well; I fear that your morale may be colored a little grey, but I'm sure that it's only a passing phase… I imagine that you would be delighted with the country where I am now…. in ', who had talked to me about it. It's like a playing card. Red roofs against the blue sea. If the weather turns favorable perhaps I'll be able to finish them off.”

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) French painter

Quote from Cezanne's letter to Camille Pissarro, from L'Estaque 2 July 1876, taken from Alex Danchev, The Letters of Paul Cézanne, 2013; as quoted in the 'Daily Beast' online, 13 Oct. 2013 https://www.thedailybeast.com/cezannes-letter-to-pissarro-picture-business-isnt-going-well
Quotes of Paul Cezanne, 1860s - 1870s

Joe Zawinul photo

“In the beginning let's say Weather Report was a joint thing. Then, after the second album there's no question about it, it became more and more my group. Wayne wanted it like that, but we were always 'partners in crime.”

Joe Zawinul (1932–2007) austrian composer and pianist

No Wayne, no Weather Report.
As quoted in Nicholson, Stuart. "Jazz-Rock: A History". Schirmer Books. 1998.

John Ruskin photo

“There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”

John Ruskin (1819–1900) English writer and art critic

Quoted by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, The Use of Life, chapter IV: "Recreation" (1894).

Kent Hovind photo
James Russell Lowell photo
Douglas Coupland photo
Cyril Connolly photo