40 Cow Quotes about the Gentle Bovines

Moo! The black and white herbivore says as its bell rings in the middle of the field. The gentle nature of cows has captured our fascination, but to be specific, these creatures' names are cattle. The cows are mothers, bulls are intact males, heifers are childless females, and steers are castrated males. But all of us commonly call them cows!

They are also the subject of numerous idioms, proverbs, and expressions. Furthermore, cows are sacred in many religions like Hinduism, wherein they are usually associated with fertility, motherhood, and abundance. Our handpicked cow quotes talk about all of these and many more.

We know how we rely on these domesticated animals for our daily needs. So, in the end, you can read cow quotes from experts, authors, and activists about our relationship with the mammal and suggestions for a lifestyle change.

Related: Like cows? You might also like our pig quotes for the other farmyard favorite.

Quick links to our selection of cow quotes:

Best Cow Quotes

If you live the farm life or rescue cows, you will be surprised to know the docile and friendly mammals are also as playful and quirky as dogs. Beyond grazing the field for eight hours a day, the cattle are also intelligent creatures. According to studies,  they show emotional intelligence by being emphatic with fellow cows in the herd. They also demonstrated their memory when they retained the feeder location 77% of the time after six weeks of no training².

See the gentle bovines in a different light as you read the following cow quotes.

"I absolutely adore cows. They're the most fascinating, gentle and beautiful animals. Their eyes are so amazing."
- Mary Quant

"The cow is the purest type of sub-human life."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"The cow is an exceptionally loving and gentle creature."
- Helen Weston

"To my mind, the only possible pet is a cow. Cows love you. They will be your friends forever."
- Bill Bryson

"The mere brute pleasure of reading – the sort of pleasure a cow must have in grazing."
- Philip Stanhope

"It was jolly in the country. A cow and little pigs to play with and milk warm from the cow."
- Georg Brandes

"The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo, the other milk."
- Ogden Nash

Metaphorical Cow Quotes To Think About

Due to our 10,500 years' connection with domesticated cows, it's no wonder we have come up with cow idioms and phrases for our daily conversations. For example, businesses define products or services that generate a steady flow of income as a cash cow, just like cow milk which is a reliable source of revenue for farmers. But, unfortunately, we have also used cow offensively when we describe someone big or lazy. 

Animals are a creative source to make our language colorful. Check out other ways to use the herbivore in the cow quotes below.

"It doesn't matter how much milk you spill as long as you don't lose the cow."
- Harvey Mackay

"A cow's heaven is a flower's idea of hell."
- Oliver Gaspirtz

"Irreverence is our only sacred cow."
- Paul Krassner

"If I don't work, I'll be sitting on the couch watching TV, eating popcorn and getting like a cow."
- Celia Cruz

"I do believe sometimes discipline is very important. I'm not just lying around like a lazy cow all the time."
- Bjork

"When you're the cash cow that lays the golden goose egg, people are always going to cheer you on, whatever."
- Noel Gallagher

"It's not socially acceptable to be a complete and utter manipulative cow."
- Lena Headey

Meaningful Cow Proverbs Worldwide

People worldwide have observed cows' behavior and anatomy and developed well-written proverbs. For example, in Africa, where cows represent royalty, power, and leadership, they have used cattle to demonstrate their social beliefs. The first cow proverb below, "When mother cow is cropping grass, her young one watches her mouth," explains how children imitate their parents as cows are known for their maternal bond with their calves. 

Analogous to cows chewing chud, another African proverb, "An ox never relieves itself of all its dung at the same time," illustrates how we should not impart all our knowledge at once.

Think over other cow quotes below and give your own interpretation.

"When mother cow is cropping grass, her young one watches her mouth."
- Nigerian proverb

"Settling a dispute through the law is like losing a cow for the sake of a cat."
- Chinese proverb

"Milk belongs to the cow, but the bull cow gets the publicity."
- Malaya proverb

"The old cow forgets that she was once a calf."
- Finnish proverb

Noteworthy Cow Quotes From Authors And Poets

Another part of the planet where cows hold a revered position is South Asia, where most people observe Hinduism. Krishna, a principal deity, has inspired Hindus to love and protect the sacred cows providing nourishing milk.

A day before the major religious festival Diwali, people bathe, adorn, feed, and sing to cows during Govatsa Dwadashi. Recently, the animal welfare department of the Indian government urged the nation to hug cows on Valentine's Day. Whether it's politically driven or out of religious concerns, I say let the cows feel love too!

Here are some cow quotes from authors and poets describing our view and relationship with the bovines.

"Truth, Sir, is a cow that will yield such people no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull."
- Samuel Johnson

"A cow is a very good animal in the field; but we turn her out of a garden."
- Samuel Johnson

"Mankind has a free will; but it is free to milk cows and to build houses, nothing more."
- Martin Luther

"Moo may represent an idea, but only the cow knows."
- Mason Cooley

"The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain."
- Colin Wilson

"Even a cow creates ambiguous signifiers. The moo of mystery."
- Mason Cooley

"I never saw a purple cow; I never hope to see one… I'd rather see than be one."
- Gelett Burgess

Funny Cow Quotes To Make You Smile

Since cows are playful and emphatic creatures, they communicate a wide range of emotions through various types of body language and vocalizations. Like cats and dogs, cows display joy, pain, fear, and affection through their tails which they also use to swat flies.

Furthermore, not all moos are the same. As social creatures, each cow has a unique "voice," so they can tell each other apart in any situation. This knowledge can also benefit farmers in detecting specific cattle that are in distress¹.

How do you think cow moos to a joke when they understand one? Hold that thought as you check out the funny cow quotes below.

"If a cow laughed, would milk come out her nose?"
- Steven Wright

"Everyone has a reason why their particular sacred cow is the sacred cow to be honored."
- Jim Norton

"A publisher who writes is like a cow in a milk bar."
- Arthur Koestler

"It's a moo point. It's like a cow's opinion; it doesn't matter. It's moo."
- Joey, ‘Friends'

"Just because a cow stands in a field all day doesn't make it a philosopher."
- Vaseem Khan

"Holy cow, in the course of one week I feel like I’ve lived about a year!"
- Karlie Kloss

"When you see the cows go into McDonalds, you know that their beef burgers are fresh."
- Anthony T. Hincks

"How do we get a pantomime cow on set. Jeez, the rigours of satire."
- Mel Smith

Eye-Opening Cow Quotes About Our Relationship With Them

We all know how, for centuries, we have depended on cows. But to what extent? According to the 2022 reports of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the global cow meat industry produced 73.9 million tonnes. Meanwhile, milk production increased slightly to 930 million tonnes in the same year. 

So when you watch documentaries like the Cowspiracy, putting these vast amounts in perspective will give you the horrifying realistic condition of the cows. In addition, if you are a climate change advocate, you know how reducing these numbers can impact the environment positively.

No one is pushing you to a specific lifestyle, but this article section simply informs you of the reality. So, after reading the cow quotes below and watching the suggested documentary, let's learn how to love the bovines better.

For more reading, check out our article on eating less meat and its environmental benefits or click over to our vegan quotes to inspire your next vegetarian meal.

"Farm animals feel pleasure and sadness, excitement. They are far more intelligent than we ever imagined."
- Jane Goodall

"Cow-slaughter and man-slaughter are, in my opinion, two sides of the same coin."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"I have a history of saving animals. I started years ago with a cow."
- Peter Max

"We say the cows laid out Boston. Well, there are worse surveyors."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Man is as much a parasite on the cow as the tapeworm is on man: We have sucked their udders like leeches."
- Stanisław Lem

"The human body has no more need for cows' milk than it does for dogs' milk, horses' milk, or giraffes' milk."
- Michael Klaper

"A dead cow or sheep lying in a pasture is recognized as carrion. The same sort of a carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher's stall passes as food."
- John Harvey Kellogg