Quotessence
Home / Topics / River Quotes

River Quotes

Browse 335 quotes about River.

River Quotes

“Life is a river. Life is not the mountain which speaks of struggle, nor the ocean that speaks of depths unknown. Life is not the sky which tells stories of greatness, nor the trees that tell stories of purpose. But life is a river that flows and the only way to live is to go into your river and flow with it. That is where life is. That is how you will arrive at where you are meant to be. Flow in your river wherever it may lead.”

“Life's always sweeter behind River Nile! Cross it; forget the days of the bitter Bile! Leave the torture behind and give a Smile! Keep smiling; Don't just do it just for a While!”

“A woman's body is a sacred temple. A work of art, and a life-giving vessel. And once she becomes a mother, her body serves as a medicine cabinet for her infant. From her milk she can nourish and heal her own child from a variety of ailments. And though women come in a wide assortment as vast as the many different types of flowers and birds, she is to reflect divinity in her essence, care and wisdom. God created a woman's heart to be a river of love, not to become a killing machine.”

“The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled. I plucked leaves off the elephant ear plants and fanned my face, sat with my bare feet submerged in the trickling water, felt breezes lift off the river and sweep over me, and still everything about me was stunned and stupefied by the heat, everything except my heart. It sat like an ice sculpture in the center of my chest. Nothing could touch it.”

“You whom my body longs for, where are you? In the stars, in the river, over the rainbow? Perhaps you hide in the shadows of the mountains, whistling in the wind through mighty peaks Just maybe you are in every corner of my being awaiting invocation Ô Manna Breath fill my life with your infinite power”

“The black land slid by and he was going into the country among the hills. For the first time in a dozen years the stars were coming out above him, in great processions of wheeling fire. He saw a great juggernaut of stars form in the sky and threaten to roll over and crush him... the river was mild and leisurely, going away from the people who ate shadows for breakfast and steam for lunch and vapors for supper. The river was very real; it held him comfortably and gave him the time at last, the leisure, to consider this month, this year, and a lifetime of years. He listened to his heart slow. His thoughts stopped rushing with his blood.”

“I took him to the river and said “let’s watch something drown,” So he took a stone and I took my necklace and we threw it all together, the way I always think I will get better in July. Things will change and sounds won’t ache and I gave my heart to uncertainty so many times, and so I took him to the river, threw the necklace in the river to slowly watch it drown, or burn, or fade away like I’ve done so many times.”

“Day Thirty-Four Handsome hunting heron, standing in the weir, our lives are lived apart yet our bodies are so near; as you wade across the water seeking fish to eat, I cannot help but wonder: do you ever get cold feet? Serenely splendid heron, staring into river, the wind that blows your feathers is causing me to shiver; the setting sun is sinking, the ducks are flying home, I cannot help but wonder: do you ever feel alone?”

“…how it would be nice if, for every sea waiting for us, there would be a river, for us. And someone -a father, a lover, someone- able to take us by the hand and find that river -imagine it, invent it- and put us on its stream, with the lightness of one only word, goodbye. This, really, would be wonderful. It would be sweet, life, every life. And things wouldn’t hurt, but they would get near taken by stream, one could first shave and then touch them and only finally be touched. Be wounded, also. Die because of them. Doesn’t matter. But everything would be, finally, human. It would be enough someone’s fancy -a father, a lover, someone- could invent a way, here in the middle of the silence, in this land which don’t wanna talk. Clement way, and beautiful. A way from here to the sea.”

“My waters rise from the source, deep in the earth, from secret caverns, hidden pockets of spirit. A rumble of bass moves through limestone tunnels, upward and onward, around curves, gathering chords, minor and major, until out flows a song, azure and cerulean, plucked from sunshine and moonbeam. Some say my music echoes your soul, harmonizes with fears and longings, calls forth your own song, until it spills out in liquid jewels. If, of course, you are worthy. My waters sing of death too, a low drumbeat that rattles the bones. There are those of you who bring out the river dragon in me. And my gaping mouth swallows you whole.”

“To find the verses in the bark of a tree...to seek the music in raindrops drumming upon the thirsty earth....to be sheltered in the silence lingering between the words...to search for a song of the fallen leaves....to revel in the gold of the olden times....to lend the ears as the earthen spirit softly speaks....to let the tales whisper from the wispy winds....of how the tree stood the test of time...this is the timeless truth of which the poet often writes.....for in the heart of the ancient woods....where the river freely runs so wild....there upon the riverbed sits the truth of all truths.....how poetry holds them all.....”

“It took him half an hour to reach the little mission chapel. From his position on his back in the river he could see just the tip of the steeple, but for the most part he gazed upward at the constellations. Rudy knew his constellations, because each one of his daughters had done a science project on them and they'd spent hours lying on their backs in the middle of the Edgar Lee Masters campus looking up at the sky. As the river bent to the south, he could see Virgo and Centaurus coming into view. At first they reminded him of true beauty, and he was overwhelmed. He knew that this heart-piercing ache, however painful, was the central experience of his life and that he would have to come to terms with it. No one - not Aristotle, not Epicurus, not Siva Singh - would ever convince him otherwise. But then it occurred to him that Virgo and Centaurus were just as arbitrary as the rudimentary classification system he'd used for his books - Helen's books. There were a lot of stars left out of the constellations, and nothing to stop you from drawing the lines in different ways to create different pictures. He wanted to lift his wings and fly, but he didn't have the power. He could only let the river carry him along.”