Between Winter Woes and Wonder, We Cover It All With the Greatest 125 Winter Quotes

Winter—it’s the time of year that revolves around peppermint mochas, playing in the snow and lighting seasonal candles. This is an extra-cozy period that consists of small comforts such as thick blankets, hot drinks and knit hats. It is dark. It is cold. It is magical. And we have 125 of the best winter quotes that summarize this pretty, yet paradoxical season!

There is nothing like opening the door to a world covered in white, feeling the crisp air fill your lungs, and experiencing the exhilaration that comes from being outside long enough to gain a flushed face and numb fingers and toes, before returning indoors where a rush of warmth welcomes you and instantly puts you at ease. There are snow many perks to the wintertime, including snowmobiling, admiring gorgeous landscapes, the perception of new beginnings/fresh starts, and the excuse to stay curled up, relaxing on the couch!

However, this is a season that can also be difficult. Seasonal affective disorder (also known as SAD or seasonal depression) is real and runs rampant. With less sunlight and potentially less social interaction, winter can bring with it a sense of dread. While there are ways to help—like scheduling consistent dates or calls with friends, treating yourself to special splurges like decadent chocolate, movie marathons, and new books, and/or purchasing a light-therapy SAD lamp—these months can still be filled with mixed emotions.

These 125 quotes about winter cover it all! So, pour another cup of coffee and enjoy reading through all the varying aspects—frustrating and beautiful—of winter woes and wonder!

Related: These 75 Snow Quotes Will Warm Your Heart

125 Winter Quotes

1. “One can follow the sun, of course, but I have always thought that it is best to know some winter, too, so that the summer, when it arrives, is the more gratefully received.” — Beatriz Williams 

2. “I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future – the timelessness of the rocks and the hills – all the people who have existed there. I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” — Andrew Wyeth 

3. “December has the clarity, the simplicity, and the silence you need for the best FRESH START of your life.” — Vivian White 

4. “In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus 

5. “At this season of the year, darkness is a more insistent thing than cold. The days are short as any dream.” — E.B. White 

6. “I know the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on the hearth on a winter’s evening, and I know the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream… I know how the nuts taken in conjunction with winter apples, cider, and doughnuts, make old people’s tales and old jokes sound fresh and crisp and enchanting.” — Mark Twain 

7. “She stuck her head out and took a deep breath. If she could eat the cold air, she would.” — Sarah Addison Allen 

Related: 125 Indoor Ideas to Do Even When It’s Cold Outside 

8. “It reminded me of what Dad said after every snail’s crawl home from Albany when snow hit.“It’s New York, people. It’s winter. We get snow. If you aren’t prepared to deal with it, move to Miami.” — Kelley Armstrong 

9. “It seems like everything sleeps in winter, but it’s really a time of renewal and reflection.” — Elizabeth Camden 

10. “There is an instinctive withdrawal for the sake of preservation, a closure that assumes the order of completion. Winter is a season unto itself.” — Haruki Murakami 

11. “In December, the wind wraps itself around bare trees and twists in between husbands and wives asleep in their beds. It shakes the shingles from the roofs and sifts through cracks in the plaster. The only green things left are the holly bushes and the old boxwood hedges in the village, and these are often painted white with snow. Chipmunks and weasels come to nest in basements and barns; owls find their way into attics. At night, the dark is blue and bluer still, as sapphire of night.” — Alice Hoffman 

12. “Ice is most welcome in a cold drink on a hot day. But in the heart of winter, you want a warm hot mug with your favorite soothing brew to keep the chill away. When you don’t have anything warm at hand, even a memory can be a small substitute.” — Vera Nazarian 

13. “How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!” — Thomas Wentworth Higginson 

14. “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” — Victor Hugo 

15. “No animal, according to the rules of animal-etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter.” ― Kenneth Grahame

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16. “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” — John Steinbeck

17. “Snowing is an attempt of God to make the dirty world look clean.” — Mehmet Murat ildan

18. “By March, the worst of the winter would be over. The snow would thaw, the rivers begin to run and the world would wake into itself again.” — Neil Gaiman

19. “It snowed all week. Wheels and footsteps moved soundlessly on the street, as if the business of living continued secretly behind a pale but impenetrable curtain. In the falling quiet there was no sky or earth, only snow lifting in the wind, frosting the window glass, chilling the rooms, deadening and hushing the city.” — Truman Capote

20. “Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless. ” — Terri Guillemets

21. “Nothing burns like the cold.” — George R.R. Martin

22. “Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” — Yoko Ono

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23. “In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” — William Blake

24. “There was a silver lining tucked into last weekend’s blizzard, and I’m not just talking about the joys of sledding. Now that the most beastly part of winter is undeniably here, we’re blanketed in fashion liberation along with snow. Can you hear that freedom ringing? We’ve been delivered from trying to look chic, slim, angular, and cool.” — Liz Krieger

25. “We feel cold, but we don’t mind it, because we will not come to harm. And if we wrapped up against the cold, we wouldn’t feel other things, like the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the aurora, or best of all the silky feeling of moonlight on our skin. It’s worth being cold for that.” — Philip Pullman

26. “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” — Hal Borland

27. “Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder–no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.” — Candace Bushnell

28. “Winter is nature’s sleep.” — H.S. Jacobs

29. “Winter forms our character and brings out our best.” — Tom Allen

30. “When old Winter puts his blank face to the glass,
I shall close all my shutters, pull the curtains tight,
And build me stately palaces by candlelight.” — Charles Baudelaire

31. “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” — Edith Sitwell

32. “A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn’t mean in winter.” — Patricia Briggs

33. “The autumn twilight turned into deep and early night as they walked. Tristran could smell the distant winter on the air–a mixture of night-mist and crisp darkness and the tang of fallen leaves.” — Neil Gaiman

34. “Winter is a glorious spectacle of glittering fractals complete with a soundscape and atmosphere entirely its own.” — Anders Swanson

35. “Winter is a season that often overstays its welcome. It’s like a chunk of cheese that got shoved way into the back of the fridge and wasn’t found until it had developed so many life forms that it was officially recognized by the United Nations as a new country.” — Jerry Nelson

36. “Although each season brings its own rewards, winter is probably my favorite time of year. For someone who loves fresh fruit and vegetables as much as I do, this may be surprising, but I actually find it an inspiring time to be a cook. Although produce is scarce, especially toward the end of the season, I look forward to the challenge of cooking with winter foods. What I love most about winter is that everyone is actually hungry. I don’t need to tempt overheated diners with delicate salads and cooling soups. When the weather is treacherous, we seek out real comfort–and real food.” — Laura Frankel

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37. “It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” — Charles Dickens

38. “Winter is the time of sacred balance and rejuvenation of life in preparation for the coming spring. It represents abundance, teaching and gratitude.” — Noelle Vignola

39. “What’s the point of complaining? We live in the north. Winter exists.” — Viki Mather

40. “Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered…sealed away for opening on a January day with snow falling fast and the sun unseen for weeks…” — Ray Bradbury

41. “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” — Percy Bysshe Shelley

42. “Winter collapsed on us that year. It knelt, exhausted, and stayed.” — Emily Fridlund

43. “I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce.” — Taylor Swift

44. “What miracle of weird transforming
Is this wild work of frost and light,
This glimpse of glory infinite?” — John Greenleaf Whittier

45. “You think of outside your room, of the streets of the town, the lonely little squares over by the station, of those winter Saturdays all alike.” — Marguerite Duras

46. “Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.” — Anamika Mishra

47. “It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow. What whiteness boasts that sun that comes into this wood! One would say milk-colored maidens are dancing on the petals of orchids. How coldly burns our sun! One would say its rays of light are shards of snow, one imagines the sun lives upon a snow crested peak on this day. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes. Helplessness has weakened me. Wandering has wearied my legs.” — Roman Payne

48. “Summer is for surrendering; winter is for wondering.” — Debasish Mridha

49. “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” — Anne Bradstreet

50. “There are adventures of the spirit and one can travel in books and interest oneself in people and affairs. One need never be dull as long as one has friends to help, gardens to enjoy and books in the long winter evenings.” — D.E. Stevenson

51. “Summer bodies are made in the winter.” — Krissy Turner

52. “I write probably 80 percent of my stuff over the winter.” — Bob Seger

53. “I have come to regard November as the older, harder man’s October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures. It puts my mind in a different place than October. It is a month for a quieter, slightly more subdued celebration of summer’s death as winter tightens its grip.” — Henry Rollins

54. “Frost grows on the window glass, forming whorl patterns of lovely translucent geometry. Breathe on the glass, and you give frost more ammunition. Now it can build castles and cities and whole ice continents with your breath’s vapor. In a few blinks you can almost see the winter fairies moving in… But first, you hear the crackle of their wings.” — Vera Nazarian

55. “He found a place where he was not only content but, despite suffering mightily in winter, was filled with a sense of joy and fulfillment.” — Simon Worrall

56. “Winter’s notion of poetry is tragedy. It knows nothing of comedy. Its laughter was frozen on its lips long ago.” — William A. Quayle

57. “Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.” — Sinclair Lewis

58. “One kind word can warm three winter months. ” — Japanese Proverb

59. “From travelling the vast white landscapes of Skyrim, to the long mournful melodies of Tchaikovsky’s 1st symphony, it is obvious that winter has inspired creativity from within. Even without ever experiencing it for myself, everything from lines in Game of Thrones like “Winter is coming” to quests to end the eternal winter in Frozen have made it clear that winter is a time of difficulty, hibernation, and sorrow. It might be something we take for granted but for aeons we have known that winter is a time of survival, a relentless force of nature that pushes us to keep ourselves alive and reminds our species of its fragility.” — Pavan Kalidindi

60. “See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year,
Sullen and sad, with all his rising train;
Vapors, and Clouds, and Storms.” — James Thomson

61. “Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.” — George R.R. Martin

62. “Winter came in days that were gray and still. They were the kind of days in which people locked in their animals and themselves and nothing seemed to stir but the smoke curling upwards from clay chimneys and an occasional red-winged blackbird which refused to be grounded. And it was cold.” — Mildred D. Taylor

63. “The problem with winter sports is that–follow me closely here–they generally take place in winter.” — Dave Barry

64. “There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you’re special.” — Carol Rifka Brunt

65. “No animal, according to the rules of animal-etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter.” — Kenneth Grahame

66. “My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.” — George R.R. Martin

67. “In the winter the sun typically comes out less then in the summer months and it can have a major impact on our moods and motivation.” — Emily Durbin

68. “The biggest problem with Winter is that it’s always yanking our chain. ‘Welp, I’m out of here,’ says Winter one late February day. ‘I won’t see you again until after autumn.’ But Winter is a dirty, rotten liar. After leading us to believe that it’s finally gone for good, it roars back into our lives on a hurricane of icy whiteness. Winter is the sleazy pal who you let crash on your couch for ‘just one night.’ Now he won’t leave despite such broad hints as you slapping a For Sale sign on the couch and dragging it out to the curb.” — Jerry Nelson

69. “Winter then in its early and clear stages, was a purifying engine that ran unhindered over city and country, alerting the stars to sparkle violently and shower their silver light into the arms of bare upreaching trees. It was a mad and beautiful thing that scoured raw the souls of animals and man.” — Mark Helprin

70. “It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it. ” — John Burroughs

71. “Fall colors are funny. They’re so bright and intense and beautiful. It’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary.” — Siobhan Vivian

72. “I love to watch the fine mist of the night come on,
The windows and the stars illumined, one by one,
The rivers of dark smoke pour upward lazily,
And the moon rise and turn them silver. I shall see
The springs, the summers, and the autumns slowly pass;
And when old Winter puts his blank face to the glass,
I shall close all my shutters, pull the curtains tight,
And build me stately palaces by candlelight.” — Charles Baudelaire

73. “In honor of October, really just hours away now…..
Brew me a cup for a winter’s night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I’ll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair.” — Minna Thomas Antrim

74. “‘Welcome to winter,’ one said. ‘When fifty percent of drivers should have their licenses temporarily suspended.'” — Kelley Armstrong

75. “When I was young, I loved summer and hated winter. When I got older I loved winter and hated summer. Now that I’m even older, and wiser, I hate both summer and winter.” — Jarod Kintz

76. “That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.” — Ali Smith

77. “Winter changes into stone the water of heaven and the heart of man.” — Victor Hugo

78. “October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.” —J.K. Rowling

79. “It’s so hard to think in winter. The world seems confined in the space of your heart; you can’t see beyond yourself.” — Patricia A. McKillip

80. “Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.” — Alexandra Guarnaschelli

81. “To keep a warm heart in winter is the real victory.” — Marty Rubin

82. “Nothing is as easy to make as a promise this winter to do something next summer; this is how commencement speakers are caught.” — Sydney J. Harris

83. “March came in that winter like the meekest and mildest of lambs, bringing days that were crisp and golden and tingling, each followed by a frosty pink twilight which gradually lost itself in an elfland of moonshine.” — L.M. Montgomery

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84. “Many of the phenomena of Winter are suggestive of an inexpressible tenderness and fragile delicacy. We are accustomed to hear this king described as a rude and boisterous tyrant; but with the gentleness of a lover he adorns the tresses of Summer.” — Henry David Thoreau

85. “Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

86. “The pale, cold light of the winter sunset did not beautify – it was like the light of truth itself. When the smoky clouds hung low in the west and the red sun went down behind them, leaving a pink flush on the snowy roofs and the blue drifts, then the wind sprang up afresh, with a kind of bitter song, as if it said, ‘This is reality, whether you like it or not. All those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.'” — Willa Cather

87. “Winter is a time to slow. To grab hold of that wheel that spins your days too quickly and give it a firm tug. To let your thoughts catch up with your body. To pin down that idea that’s been circling your mind for months. To remember that life isn’t an emergency.” — Kelsi Turner

88. “In spring we are on Earth; in summer we are on Earth; in autumn we are on Earth, but in winter we are in another planet; winter is another planet!” — Mehmet Murat ildan

89. “The snow did not even whisper its way to earth, but seemed to salt the night with silence.” — Dean Koontz

90. “It’s that time of year when getting out of your warm bed is not for the weak, and trudging through everyday life seems monotonous, exhausting, boring and, well, just hard. For many people, winter is a very difficult season to muster the strength to feel joy and excitement about much of anything. SAD struggle is real, people. It’s real.” — Christine Carter

91. “If the dark days of winter are a struggle where everything seems that little bit harder, it is not just your imagination. Scientists have discovered that the brain actually works differently throughout the year, with some parts far more active in the summer than in the winter months. In fact, brain activity related to attention and concentration peaks during the summer solstice and slumps to a low on the shortest day of the year.” — Sarah Knapton

92. “Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o’clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without.” — Thomas De Quincey

93. “If winter helps you curl up and more that makes it one of the best of the seasons.” — Murray Pura

94. “Although it was only six o’clock, the night was already dark. The fog, made thicker by its proximity to the Seine, blurred every detail with its ragged veils, punctured at various distances by the reddish glow of lanterns and bars of light escaping from illuminated windows. The road was soaked with rain and glittered under the street lamps, like a lake reflecting strings of lights. A bitter wind, heavy with icy particles, whipped at my face, its howling forming the high notes of a symphony whose bass was played by swollen waves crashing into the piers of the bridges below. The evening lacked none of winter’s rough poetry.” — Théophile Gautier

95. “I like the cold weather. It means you get work done.” — Noam Chomsky

96. “In winter we behold the charms of solemn majesty and naked grandeur.” — James Ellis

97. “Because the birdsong might be pretty,
But it’s not for you they sing,
And if you think my winter is too cold,
You don’t deserve my spring.” — Erin Hanson

98. “People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” — Anton Chekhov

99. “Normally, spring is a lovely, wonderful time of year. A time of flowers, warm weather, Red Sox baseball, our favorite seasonal places reopening, reconnecting with nature, all the good stuff that lets us know winter is over.” — Cathy Summers

100. “Many people think of winter as bereft of birds after autumn migrations, but in fact this can be a bountiful season for bird-watchers. No, you won’t see the numbers and diversity of birds that surround us in the warm months. But what winter offers is the chance to observe behavior — birds act differently in the cold, their activities much more focused. And they’re easier to spot and watch, without tree leaves to hide their comings and goings.” — Val Cunningham

101. “Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.” — Mary Oliver

102. “The weeks will grow progressively warmer, the grass will green, and spring will come. These tales of winter will fade quickly. Memories of shoveling and skiing and snowmobiling and snowshoeing will meld into gardening and sailing, golfing and other summer pursuits. It happens every year. And we are blessed to experience each one.” — Irwin Kraus

103. “My hands are dry, my hair has static, my lips are cracked and I’m so very pale. Bronzer and vitamin E lipstick are my go-to staples to get me through this season. That and visions of warmer days.” — Sidra Rubin

104. “Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.” — Pietro Aretino

105. “The hard soil and four months of snow make the inhabitants of the northern temperate zone wiser and abler than his fellow who enjoys the fixed smile of the tropics.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

106. “In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.” — Ben Aaronovitch

107. “To shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring. ” — W.J. Vogel

108. “The winter is a slow time, but it’s not lifeless. As you huddle against the cold on a February day, you may be ready for spring to come. But all around you, there are other forms of life that are ready too.” — Beth Botts

109. “Surrendering to the fact of winter is a relief: I am grateful for these lingering days of cold. They offer me a few more weeks of quiet and slow before spring emerges, the wheel picks up speed again, and the sound of its exciting spinning fills my days.” — Kelsi Turner

110. “These northern-tier countries are populated by a bunch of generally happy people who not only tolerate winter but have come up with strategies for embracing it.” — Stefanie Pettit

111. “One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.” — Ray Bradbury

112. “It was a black and white day of frost, which crawled along the dark trees and outlined twig and branch. The air was misty, and distant objects assumed a mysterious importance. Slight sounds, too, suggested infinite activities to the mind.” — Robert S. Hichens

113. “Melancholy were the sounds on a winter’s night.” — Virginia Woolf

114. “Winter likes to pretend it’s gone, tricking the daffodils into poking their little heads out of the soil, then wam! Winter comes back again like a giant, felt-wrapped hammer, whapping anything green back into submission. It’s nature’s version of whack-a-mole.” — Mike Todd

115. “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” — Paul Theroux

116. “Are the days of winter sunshine just as sad for you, too? When it is misty, in the evenings, and I am out walking by myself, it seems to me that the rain is falling through my heart and causing it to crumble into ruins.”  — Gustave Flaubert

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117. “Before anyone starts in on how we have not had a winter, let me just say, ‘No one asked you.’ It has been plenty cold for me. And it seems to have gone back and forth and back and forth so much that I can’t really remember what kind of winter we have had. If it just got cold and stayed that way, maybe I would get used to it. Maybe I would finally dig out a proper coat and gloves and whatnot. But this constant pinging back and forth has me so perplexed that I never know what to wear.” — Jerrie Whiteley

118. “If this were a rooftop
covered with snow,
these words
would be
bird tracks
instead
of a poem.” — William Michaelian

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119. “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

120. “I pray this winter be gentle and kind–a season of rest from the wheel of the mind.” — John Geddes

121. “December is an old friend; it reminds you of the past, together you share some laughs and tears, you feel warm-hearted though it’s freezing outside. But, the goodbye is inevitable. May the memories we share with this friend next year be filled with comfort, peace and Love.” — Mohamed Atef

122. “A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.” — George R.R. Martin

123. “A few feathery flakes are scattered widely through the air, and hover downward with uncertain flight, now almost alighting on the earth, now whirled again aloft into remote regions of the atmosphere.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

124. “Snowflakes swirl down gently in the deep blue haze beyond the window. The outside world is a dream. Inside, the fireplace is brightly lit, and the Yule log crackles with orange and crimson sparks. There’s a steaming mug in your hands, warming your fingers. There’s a friend seated across from you in the cozy chair, warming your heart. There is mystery unfolding.” — Vera Nazarian

125. “But only a person in the depths of despair neglected to look beyond winter to the spring that inevitably followed, bringing back color and life and hope.” — Mary Balogh

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