“Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.”

“Oh, things are frequently what they seem,
And this is wisdom's crown:
Only the game fish swims upstream,
But the sensible fish swims down.”

Ogden Nash (1902–1971) American poet

“Admitting to where you are feels simultaneously like pain and like relief. The energy required to resist where you are is exhausting. Admitting to where you are feels like letting yourself float downstream after swimming upstream against river rapids for years.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

“Some fish love to swim upstream. Some people love to overcome challenges.”

Amit Ray (1960) Indian author

“You don't accomplish much by swimming with the mainstream. Hell, a dead fish can do that.”

Kinky Friedman (1944) Singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician

“Gene Ray: Another thing, did you know your father is a fish?
Interviewer: No, I did not know my… [laughter]
Gene Ray: You know how salmon swim upstream, the male fertilizes the female eggs laid in the water?
Interviewer: Yes.
Gene Ray: The sperm fish swims upstream just like the salmon fertilizes female eggs laid in the water.”

Gene Ray (1927)

“Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream.”

Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–1990) English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist

“Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom.”

Sam Walton (1918–1992) Founder of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club

“Fly fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the hell is water?”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist