34 Cactus Quotes About Prickly Thorns and These Fascinating Plants

The cactus is a succulent perennial plant with unique physical characteristics. You can recognize cacti with their thick stems and spikes, while many cacti species produce incredible yet rare flowers. This article will explore some of the best cactus quotes that touch on various aspects of these plants. There’s so much to learn from how the cactus blooms in even the harshest conditions. 

For some people, cactus plants are simply plants with spikes. However, for many others, they embody stories and lessons of inspiration. For instance, one of the unique features of cacti is their ability to survive harsh weather conditions. Regardless, the cactus thrives and flourishes. 

Cacti also serve multiple purposes if you place them within the home. Additionally, there are various edible cacti species, and today people even make cactus leather as a vegan alternative. Let’s explore some of the many quotes about the cactus as the main subject.

Best Cactus Quotes

What makes the cactus both attractive and inspirational? Cacti come in many forms. They exist in various shapes and sizes, and some bloom with incredible flowers. You’ll primarily find these plants in dry and hot regions like deserts in South and North America. Since cacti have no leaves, they grow at extremely slow rates compared to other plants. 

Their adaptation to dry and hot regions makes them relatively self-sustaining. Even within the home, these plants are not as high maintenance as many other plant species. 

Cacti store moisture in their stems and roots. As a result, they can regulate their food intake, and people and cultures draw inspiration from these properties. The plants can adapt to challenging conditions, self-regulate, and adjust to external situations. Another interesting fact about these plants is their long-living nature. Cacti can live up to 200 years, striving and thriving in various situations. For these reasons and more, you’ll find various cactus quotes talking about longevity and beauty in the eye of the beholder.  

Here, we explore some of our favorite quotes about the cactus plant.

"A cactus doesn't live in the desert because it likes the desert; it lives there because the desert hasn't killed it yet."
- Hope Jahren

"In a world full of flowers, be a cactus."
- Kul Bhushan Negi

"A cactus is a desert’s rose.
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- Matshona Dhliwayo

"Reach for the stars, even if you have to stand on a cactus."
- Unknown

"A creative person has to create. It doesn't really matter what you create. If such a dancer wanted to go out and build the cactus gardens where he could, in Mexico, let him do that, but something that is creative has to go on."
- Katherine Dunham

Cactus quotes about cactus feelings and living

As many people have come to know, life is not always a bed of roses. Some struggles come with thorns and spikes that can look difficult to transcend. Sometimes, the things we desire take a long time to manifest in our lives. During this wait, things can appear frustrating. However, like cacti, we can work through these situations and come out strong and more resilient. 

Sometimes, there’s even the desire to give up. Whenever you feel this way, think of the giant cactus plant. It takes a long time to grow and bloom. 

For the flowering cacti that come with flowers, there’s a long wait to experience the beauty of their beautiful blooms. They move from plain prickly plants to something even more attractive. 

Cacti also teach us about strength as we navigate living. In regions like the desert, cacti hardly receive water. However, cacti adapt to brutal situations like dry soil and sun. We can apply the properties of cacti to many aspects of life - from the way we feel to how we navigate life. Let’s explore some cactus quotes about feeling and living. 

"Be a cactus in a world of delicate flowers."
- Unknown

"Hope is not a resting place but a starting point - a cactus, not a cushion."
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"My dad is like a cactus - introverted and tough. I'm a people person, like my mom, but I got my competitiveness from my dad. He came to this country from Belarus with nothing and built a real business. He's my hero for giving me that need to run a business and for having enormous confidence in me."
- Gary Vaynerchuk

"During your struggle society is not a bunch of flowers, it is a bunch of cactus."
- Amit Kalantri

"Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns."
- Leigh Bard Ugo

"I consider it the highest compliment when my employees go out and start their own companies in competition with me. I always send them a plant to wish them well. Of course, it’s a cactus."
- Norman Brodsky

"I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside."
- Mo Udall

"People are not cactuses, they need plenty of water and, when talking about friendship, the water is our time."
- Birute Sol

"In Mexico, when we want to speak deep secrets, we drink pulgue together. It is a drink made from the cactus plant, and when you take the bottle from your mouth, it leaves a string behind, between the mouth and the bottle, like a spider's web. It shows that the truth sticks inside.
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- Alejandro Jodorowsky

"We reap what we sow. We cannot expect apples when we have sown the seed of a cactus."
- Unknown

"People trample over flowers, yet only to embrace a cactus."
- James Joyce

Cactus classification is similar to fashion on women skirts: they first shorten improperly and then lengthen excessively.

~ R. Foster

A cactus could've loved any other cactus, but love is such a crazy stuff that it only fell for a balloon, where their togetherness is impracticable.

~ Fathima Shamla

Inspirational cactus quotes about their prickly nature

When you think of the cactus, your mind probably explores its thorny and prickly nature. These sharp spikes can be painful if they graze the skin. 

Similarly, we experience some spikey situations as we navigate life. Some of the beautiful things we experience often come with dark aspects as well. This juxtaposition can sometimes seem confusing; however, we can learn to embrace both angles. The lesson here is that we can either let the thorns dictate our mood or rise regardless of them. 

Think of the process of falling in love, for instance. There’s considerable uncertainty surrounding it, and sometimes, we get hurt by the people we love. However, we can learn to rise and bloom. Even with its prickly nature, we can still recognize the beautiful and robust aspects of the cactus. Check out these cactus quotes that’ll give you something more to reflect on.

"Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it."
- Joyce Meyer

"Loving someone who doesn’t love you back is like hugging a cactus. The tighter you hold on, the more it’s going to hurt."
- Unknown

"Anger was simple, self-sustaining as a cactus. You couldn't look too closely at it, lest the spines get you in the eye."
- Rebecca Scherm

"If you get struck by a cactus, consider it a cactus kiss. Because we all know Love hurts."
- Jessica Anna Jones

"Nothing's all bad. There are very beautiful flowers in the desert amidst the spikes and thorns. Just don't let them take over. In the garden of love there is little room for prickly things."
- Kate McGaha

When the going gets tough, Just like golden barrel cactus, You bloom yellow And poesy drips from you Instead of tears.

~ Neelam Saxena Chandra

Thanks a heap coyote ugly. This cactus-gram stings worse than your abandonment.

~ Diablo Cody

Cactus quotes about their place in nature

Nature reminds us that all things and beings are unique in their own way. The succulent cactus plants, with their thick stems, can overcome adversity. When we see them in their natural environment, we can appreciate not just their striking physical appearance and how nature creates life to survive even the harshest conditions. Here, we feature some cactus quotes exploring their place in nature. 

"The cardones cactus is very similar to saguaro cactus in Arizona. These cacti only grow in very specific, particular places."
- James Turrell

"I bought a cactus. A week later it died. And I got depressed, because I thought, Damn. I am less nurturing than a desert."
- Demetri Martin

"Every cactus blooms, some with little rooms, some give flowers that grow, others so small it won't show! "
- Ana Claudia Antunes

"I’m an observer of life. I like to watch people, and I like to watch cactus. I like to talk to mountains and communicate with my friends in the other spheres and dimensions."
- Frederick Lenz

"Take the rose, most people think it very beautiful: I don't care for It at all. I prefer the cactus, for the simple reason that it has a more interesting personality. It has wonderfully adapted itself to its surroundings! It is the best illustration of the theory of evolution in plant life."
- Charles Proteus Steinmetz

"A whale is as unique as a cactus. But don't ask a whale to survive Death Valley. We all have special gifts. Where we use them and how determines whether we actually complete something."
- Max De Pree

"Deserts are very dry places, but plants can still grow there. Desert plants collect and use water in special ways."
- Julie Penn

"The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox."
- Vera Nazarian

A daisy blooming in a desert is worth more than a rose blossoming in a rainforest.

~ Mashona Dhimaya

The desert works constantly to forbid it, and still the cactus blooms.

~ Uma Gokhale

The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flower box.

~ Vera Nazarian

Cactus quotes from the arts and literature

The arts and literature have many things to say about cacti. You’ll find references in books, poetry pieces, other art-related places, and sayings from experts. Read on to discover some quotes related to the cactus from the arts and literature.

"Cactus plants are blooming', sagebrush everywhere. Granite spires are standing' all around.I tell you folks it's Heaven, to be riding' down the trail, when the desert sun goes down."
- Gene Autry

"Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music."
- Rick Riordan

"She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her."
- Jerry Spinelli

"So they drove again, Vivien sitting up and looking now, but as navigator only, letting the desert scratch its own thorny poetry on the enormous moon."
- Douglas Woolf

"I remember very clearly someone saying, 'Don't shake hands with the cactus,' and I thought, 'Well, why not? What could possibly go wrong?' Shaking hands is a friendly gesture."
- Benedict Cumberbatch

I read books so dry even a cactus couldn't grow on them. But who cares? I'm not a farmer, I'm a thinker.

~ Jarod Kintz

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

~ Mashona Dhimaya