41 Turtle Quotes Teaching Patience, Self-worth, And More

"The creatures of the sea hold special mystery, and they are among the most exciting, graceful, and beautiful on Earth. Just consider the living riot of a coral reef, the beauty of an albatross, the awesome power of a giant turtle, the grace of a dolphin. Now multiply that by the millions of creatures in the sea. Wow!"
- Carl Safina

"The beach is in our blood. Everyone in our family returns to the beach instinctively, just like the sea turtles."
- Sandy Archibald

"I don’t want to live in a world where I could say to my daughter, ‘There used to be turtles that swam in the ocean.’"
- Angela Kinsey

"Changes in Latitudes' began when I was looking at a photograph of a sea turtle swimming underwater. I had such a strong feeling for the beauty of this ancient creature, at home in the sea. On the spot, I wanted to swim with that turtle. I began to imagine a character who would do just that."
- Will Hobbs

"Take a walk with a turtle. And behold the world in pause."
- Bruce Feiler

"Tortoises can tell you more about the road than hares."
- Khalil Gibran

"Nature is slow, but sure; she works no faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the race by her perseverance."
- Henry David Thoreau

"Wealth comes like a turtle and goes away like a gazelle."
- Arabic Proverb

"Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help."
- Alex Haley

"Slow and steady wins the race."
- Aesop

"Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow."
- Plato

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."
- Confucius

"I'm like an old turtle these days. I don't run wide-open everywhere, but at the end of the day, I'll be where I'm supposed to be."
- Tracy Lawrence

"If a problem looks difficult, relax. If it looks impossible, relax even more. Then begin encouraging small changes, putting just enough pressure on yourself to move one turtle step forward. Then rest, savor, celebrate. Then step again. You’ll find that slow is fast, gentle is powerful, and stillness moves mountains."
- Martha Beck

"The Turtle’s teachings are so beautiful. So very special. It teaches us that everything you are, everything you need, and everything you bring to the world is inside you, not external, and you carry it with you and are not limited to a place, space, or time."
- Eileen Anglin

"I'm as self-contained as a turtle. When I put my key in the ignition, I have my home right behind me."
- Esther Tallamy

"I am now a turtle. Virtually everything I own is on my back and suffice it to say I am one ton lighter and, therefore, 2,000 pounds happier. All houses are gone."
- Bobby Darin

"See the turtle of enormous girth, on his shell he holds the earth. If you want to run and play, come along the beam today."
- Stephen King

"It's okay to play turtle for a while, as long as you don't get too fond of your shell."
- Eileen Wilks

"If superstition could contradict science, the world may as well be on the back of a turtle. But giving into turtle worship was a bridge too far."
- Thomm Quackenbush

"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."
- James Bryant Conant

"Watch the turtle. He only moves forward by sticking his neck out."
- Louis V. Gerstner

"Pride of one's work is not improper, unladylike, or vain. We can all take a lesson from the sea turtle. She does not travel thousands of miles or risk all for her ego. She has an instinct for greatnessone that I believe is found in all living creatures."
- Mary Alice

"I would honestly say I'm in the turtle's race. My journey is a marathon."
- Omari Hardwick

"No man has ever seen a turtle climbing the wall. In order to do the things which are impossible for you, you need to change yourself, and better still, transform yourself into something new!"
- Mehmet Murat İldan

"Trusting in wealth is like looking for feathers on turtles."
- Senegalese Proverb

"Words have a life of their own. There is no telling what they will do. Within a matter of days, they can even turn turtle and mean the opposite."
- Craig Brown

"‘When we were little,’ the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, ‘we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle - we used to call him Tortoise.’ ‘Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?’ Alice asked. ‘We called him Tortoise because he taught us,’ said the Mock Turtle angrily: 'Really you are very dull!’"
- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

"Most people were heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after it has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too."
- Ernest Hemingway

"On my door there's a cartoon of two turtles. One says, ‘Sometimes I'd like to ask why he allows poverty, famine and injustice when he could do something about it. ‘The other turtle says, ‘I'm afraid God might ask me the same question.'"
- Peter Kreeft

"‘Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, ‘why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears.'"
- Amy Tan

"We’re lean, we’re green, and we’re mean!"
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"I was obsessed with the Turtles, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There's Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, and my dad used to call me Callemundo, saying you're the fifth turtle."
- Callum Smith

"Rabbits are played. Nowadays it’s all about the turtles. Tell them it’s a ninja, they’ll freak."
- Etgar Keret

"Love makes even a turtle smile."
- Henrietta Newton

"And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free, as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be."
- Dr. Seuss

"Try to be like the turtle at ease in your own shell."
- Bill Copeland

"All the thoughts of a turtle are turtle."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are absolutely free to describe me as a turtle or something."
- Paul Giamatti

"We don't even know if we're in this room. We could be in a turtle's dream in outer space."
- Danny Devito

"I got a few speeding tickets when I was young, but I'm a little more like the turtle than the hare."
- Christopher Lloyd