Before a butterfly perches on a flower, it is first a caterpillar that eats leaves. With its fuzzy and wormlike appearance, its metamorphosis from the larval stage to its maturity, whether a butterfly or moth, has long captivated us for centuries. By the end of our collection of caterpillar quotes, we hope to leave you with a newfound appreciation for the humble creature and the profound wisdom it can provide us as we navigate life.
Aside from quotes that spark motivation for personal transformation, we added excerpts from Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. There's no time to lose, so let's start inching through the handpicked caterpillar quotes below.
If you want to read more about the caterpillar's final stage, you can head to our butterfly quotes or moth quotes.
Quick links to our selection of caterpillar quotes:
Caterpillars spend most of the larva stage consuming leaves and molting. The eating machines can grow a hundred times larger until they stop, hang upside down, and molt for the last time in preparation for the pupa stage. At the end of this process, they have devoured up to 27,000 times their body weight1.
Nature whispers wisdom through the caterpillar's journey. As it sheds its old skin and morphs into a butterfly, it mirrors the importance of embracing change and bidding farewell to the past. Whenever fear and doubt creep in, may these motivational caterpillar quotes remind you to trust the process.
Keen to read up more on their lifecycle? Click on to our butterfly facts.
"All human beings have the ability to transform like a caterpillar emerging from its cocoon and taking to the sky."
"You’re a little caterpillar inside your cocoon. Break out and fly!"
"Adding wings to caterpillars does not create butterflies. It creates awkward and dysfunctional caterpillars. Butterflies are created through transformation."
"Meditation is the process of transformation and beautification of soul from a leaf-eating caterpillar to a nectar-sipping butterfly. It grows with the wings of love and compassion."
"We have to turn toward our own inner darkness. For only by abandoning its attachments and facing the darkness does the caterpillar's body begin to spread out and its light, beautiful wings begin to form."
"Only those who stick around long enough to see the caterpillar turn into the butterfly actually get to witness the transformation."
"Fighting has taught me that the caterpillar takes a while to turn into a majestic butterfly."
The larva stage usually takes a few weeks, with the primary goal of exponential growth. But some Lepidoptera species, such as the Isabella Tiger Moth, whose caterpillar form is nicknamed wooly bear, spend up to 14 years as a larva. In most cases, butterflies have a longer duration from the egg to chrysalis stage than their adult form. Nonetheless, they still follow their instincts and persevere to transform!
Aside from accepting change, the whole process teaches us patience. The slow but consistent movement of caterpillars also reminds us to continuously inch our way toward success. What other lessons have you learned from these beautiful creatures? Read more as you go through the following caterpillar quotes.
"When someone comes to you with big dreams, don't be too quick to belittle their ambition and dreams. Inspire and help them in any way you can. Even the beautiful butterfly was once a caterpillar."
"Butterflies are not called butterflies overnight. They have to undergo tons of changes in order to acquire that name."
"If everyone is speaking caterpillar, don't be afraid to speak butterfly. When it's time to awaken, nothing else will suit you."
"The butterfly does not look back upon its caterpillar self, either fondly or wistfully; it simply flies on."
"We are like caterpillars contemplating pupation."
"Why is a caterpillar wrapped in silk while it changes into a butterfly? So the other caterpillars can't hear the screams. Change hurts."
"Just when the caterpillar thought 'I am incapable of moving,' it became a butterfly."
"Criticism often takes from the tree caterpillars and blossoms together."
"Forgetting is a beautiful thing. When you forget, you remake yourself. For a caterpillar to become a butterfly, it must forget it was a caterpillar at all. Then it will be as if the caterpillar never was and there was only ever a butterfly."
Caterpillars inch like a worm, while butterflies soar with their wings. The physical transformation, including their behavior, captured our minds, and we have used it to describe changes in our lives and society.
This section includes quotes from American architect and futurist Richard Buckminster Fuller, famous for designing geodesic domes like the United States pavilion for Expo 67 in Montreal. We have also added excerpts from Russian playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (here on Amazon) and the English novelist and youngest of the Brontë literary family Anne Brontë who wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. (here on Amazon)
Correlate your life to that of a caterpillar after contemplating the caterpillar quotes below.
"One can study a caterpillar forever and never be able to predict a butterfly."
"In nature, a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with human beings it is the other way round: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar."
"To regret the exchange of earthly pleasures for the joys of Heaven is as if the groveling caterpillar should lament that it must one day quit the nibbled leaf to soar aloft and flutter through the air, roving at will from flower to flower, sipping sweet honey from their cups, or basking in their sunny petals."
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly."
"The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly."
"I'm a social caterpillar. I am not a social butterfly"
"Afraid? Me? A man who's licked his weight in wild caterpillars?"
"When I think of mystery, I don't think about myself. I think of the universe, like why does the moon rise when the sun falls? Caterpillars turn into butterflies? I really haven't remained a recluse."
"I would like to think that the singer is the butterfly, and the drummer was just the little grub in the ground, working to become a caterpillar"
Since its debut in 1969, Eric Carle's charming children's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar (here on Amazon), has captured the hearts of readers, young and old.
The story takes us on a fascinating journey as a ravenous caterpillar munches its way through various foods, ultimately transforming into a stunning butterfly. Its beauty lies in its powerful symbolism of growth and change. Appealing to kids, it also has a unique format featuring holes punched through the pages, mimicking the caterpillar's feasting.
After reading the caterpillar quotes below, add Carle's picture book to your gift ideas for kids.
"Now he wasn’t hungry any more- and he wasn’t a little caterpillar any more."
"The caterpillar ate through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better."
"One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and – pop! – out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar."
From Eric Carle's charming picture book, we also have the enchanting classic of Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The caterpillar is a memorable character, captivating readers with his blue and green striped body and hookah-smoking habit. As an enigmatic figure, he shares pearls of wisdom with Alice, the story's heroine, allowing her to discover her identity.
Imagine yourself as Alice conversing with the Caterpillar as you read the excerpts from the book below.
"The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.
'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar."
"Come back!' the caterpillar called after her, 'I've something important to say!' This sounded promising: Alice turned and came back again. 'Keep your temper,' said the caterpillar."
| 1 | 3000 Facts About Animals. James Egan, (n.d.). (n.p.): Lulu.com. |
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