43 November Quotes and Sayings to Start the Holiday Season

November, for Americans, has always been a month to kick off the holiday and shopping season. Nobody will think of November without associating it with Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Veterans Day, and many more holidays and historical events.

As winter is fast approaching, people add more layers to their clothes and prepare their homes for the colder weather. That is why the old names the Anglo-Saxons gave for November seem to fit it to this day. Wind Monath, or wind month, signifies the building chilling temperature, and Blod Monath, or blood month, represents the slaughtering of cows in preparation for winter.

To discover more about the month of November, read through our curated November quotes below.

Quick links to our selection of inspirational November quotes:

Best November Quotes For Inspiration

Greeting every November makes you wonder how time flies so fast that it's already the second to the last month. According to a study by psychological scientists Philip Gable and Bryan Poole of the University of Alabama², our perception of time shortens whenever we are in a positive state, especially when there is a high motivation to achieve a specific goal.

So don't be dismayed if you sense you need more time. You have spent the past months well, and you can achieve more of your goals in the remaining months after reading our best November quotes below.

"Welcome sweet November, the season of senses and my favorite month of all."
- Gregory F. Lenz

"This is going to be a November to remember."
- Charmaine J. Forde

"The month of November makes me feel that life is passing more quickly. In an effort to slow it down, I try to fill the hours more meaningfully."
- Henry Rollins

"There is October in every November and there is November in every December. All seasons melted in each other’s life."
- Mehmet Murat Ildan

Related: Talking December, as November comes to an end, you might also like our December quotes.

"Fear not November's challenge bold—We've books and friends, And hearths that never can grow cold: These make amends!"
- Alexander L. Fraser

Quotes About November’s Sun

November sun brings daytime temperature for major American cities, usually ranging from 50 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. But, in mid-November of 2019, based on the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI) by the Midwest Regional Climate Center¹, over 70 cities received the extreme category of the index. This event occurred because the meandering polar vertex released the arctic blast that hit the East Coast in November, and global warming could be a prime suspect for it.

After reading the November quotes below, may we all enjoy this month's weather by caring for our planet.

Related: you might also like our selection of winter quotes and snow quotes for more inspiration as the seasons get cooler.

"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

"Wind warns November's done with. The blown leaves make bat-shapes, Web-winged and furious."
- Sylvia Plath

"That soft autumnal time, the woodland foliage now is gathered by the wild November blast."
- John Howard Bryant

"Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils."
- Cyril Connolly

"I cannot endure wasting anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

"November's sky is chill and drear, November's leaf is red and sear."
- Walter Scott

"Whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul, I shall recall the memory of warm, sunny, late summer afternoons like this one, and be comforted greatly."
- Peggy Toney Horton

November Quotes About Its Historical Events

On November 4, 2008, Americans elected an Illinois senator making him the country's first African American president. It is one of the highlights of the 2000s, not just for the USA but for countries worldwide. 

According to Pew Research Center, Obama is popular in Western Europe and has high ratings in Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, Kenya, and Nigeria. Even though he's less well-known in Muslim countries, his score is generally higher than the previous administration's president. 

Look back on the past by reading more historical November quotes below.

"America was magnificently characterized in November of 2008 when we elected, for the first time, an African-American President of the United States."
- David Scott

"1992 became known as the 'Year of the Woman' because so many of us were elected to public office that November, including a record six to the United States Senate."
- Dee Dee Myers

"I had been in so many towns and cities in America with John Kennedy, but I was not with him in Dallas, Texas, on November 21, 1963."
- Pierre Salinger

"There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life's July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

November Quotes About Thanksgiving

If you're American, November is often synonymous with Thanksgiving Day. So we have prepared a few November quotes to remind you of the good memories and sumptuous food this occasion brings. 

Speaking of food, a survey from YouGovAmerica confirmed that the classic American thanksgiving meal is composed of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and bread. In addition, 47% expect to eat the feast's leftovers for the next 2 to 3 days. 

After checking the November quotes below, go to our Thanksgiving quotes to read more about this joyful day full of gratitude and our guide to zero-waste Thanksgiving for tips to enjoy the celebration with less waste.

"Don't wait until the fourth Thursday in November, to sit with family and friends to give thanks. Make every day a day of Thanksgiving!"
- Charmaine J. Forde

"In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year."
- Cynthia Rylant

"What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?"
- Erma Bombeck

November Quotes About Its Other Occasions

Aside from Thanksgiving, another famous holiday in November is Veterans Day. In 1918, the Allies and Germany suspended hostilities on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Originally called Armistice Day to commemorate the end of the first world war, Veterans day occurs every November 11 to honor all who served or are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Furthermore, other countries celebrate it too. Canada and Australia call it Remembrance Day, while Great Britain uses the same name but celebrates it on the Sunday closest to November 11. 

After reading the following November quotes below, stop to reflect on the meaning of November’s occasions.

Related read: November - Awareness Months, Days & Observances.

"November is Native American Heritage month, and a good time to honor the legacy of our ancestors, but every day we should stop to think about our country's beginning and that the United States would not exist if not for a great deal of sacrifice, blood, and tears by Indian Tribes across the country."
- Deb Haaland

"In this Veteran’s Day (November 11) we stop and are thankful for all those who have fought in wars so that we may all enjoy our freedom. The bravery and risk that these men and women took will not be forgotten."
- Catherine Pulsifer

"In January we start saving money, getting out of credit card debt, funding our retirement accounts, and we're doing wonderful. Then, every single year like clockwork, starting in November, all of you fall into this trap that says, 'I have to buy this gift... I can't show up at this party and not have something for everybody.'"
- Suze Orman

"What is No-Spend November anyway? It’s all about being frugal and saving money during a season when advertisers are telling you to spend, spend, spend!"
- Rebecca Lake

Melodic November Excerpts From Poems

On November 27, 1895, The inventor of dynamite signed his last will, which, in turn, established one of the world’s most prestigious awards.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel had massive success with his multiple dynamite factories, which made him "Europe's richest vagabond." He died with no immediate family, so he allocated his fortune to honor people who made an impact in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. 

Read the colorful life of Nobel after checking out the equally bright November quotes below.

"When shriek’d the bleak November winds and smote the woods, and the brownfields were herbless, and the shades. That met above the merry rivulet, were spoil’d, I sought, I loved them still, they seem’d like old companions in adversity."
- William Cullen Bryant

"Peering from some high window at the gold of November sunset, and feeling that if day has to become night, this is a beautiful way."
- E.E Cummings

"November comes and November goes. With the last red berries and the first white snows. With night coming early and dawn coming late, and ice in the bucket and frost by the gate. The fires burn and the kettles sing, and earth sinks to rest until next spring."
- Clyde Watson

"The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of. The mite which November contributes becomes equal in value to the bounty of July."
- Henry David Thoreau

"So dull and dark are the November days. The lazy mist high up the evening curled, And now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze; The place we occupy seems all the world."
- John Clare

Other Noteworthy November Quotes From Art And Literature

Due to an avid reader who wanted to appreciate all American writers more, the United States Department of Congress recognized National Author's Day on November 1, 1949, twenty years after Nellie Verne Burt McPherson proposed it to the General Federation of Women's Clubs. If you are a literary lover, you can celebrate this holiday by buying books, lending your favorite books, supporting authors online, and even starting to be an author yourself.

For eco-reading, you might like to check our recommendations for sustainable living books and the best children’s books about nature and the environment. 

Here are some November quotes you can read from authors worldwide whose works you can check out after.

"The wind that makes music in November corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum, the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playing swirls, and the wind hurries on… A tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving, but there is no detaining the wind."
- Aldo Leopold

"Some of the days in November carry the whole memory of summer as a fire opal carries the color of moon rise."
- Gladys Taber

"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

"But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them."
- L.M. Montgomery

"The November evening had a bite; it nibbled not-quite-gently at her cheeks and ears. In Virginia, the late autumn was a lover, still, but a dangerous one."
- J. Aleksandr Wootton

Short November Captions For Social Media

Beards will fill your social feeds this month! If you can grow one, join the harmless dare between friends turned annual global tradition of Movember every November, wherein men grow a mustache for a purpose all month long. 

Movember aims to raise awareness and build funds for men's health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and male suicide. Aside from growing a beard, you can also support this movement by walking or running 60 kilometers for the whole month, hosting an event, or any idea you can think of.

After reading these short November captions that are perfect for your social media accounts, visit Movember's website to read more about the movement.

"Now in November nearer comes the sun down the abandoned heaven."
- D. H. Lawrence

"And November sad, a psalm. Tender, trustful, full of balm. Thou must breathe in spirits calm."
- Caroline May

"November's sky is chill and drear, November's leaf is red and sear."
- Sir Walter Scott

"November woods are bare and still. November days are clear and bright."
- Helen Hunt Jackson

"The August noon in us works to stave off the November chills."
- Ray Bradbury

Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all other seasons.

~ Jim Bishop

And a few more November Quotes as the Year Draws to a Close

In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets.

~ Cynthia Rylant

This is the month of nuts and nutty thoughts — that November whose name sounds so bleak and cheerless — perhaps its harvest of thought is worth more than all the other crops of the year.

~ Henry David Thoreau

It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.

~ Sarah Addison Allen

Spring's wakening bugle long is hushed, long dimm'd is Summer's splendor October yields her easel bright to “black and white” November.”

~ James Rigg

More Month Quotes

• January Quotes
• February Quotes
• March Quotes
• April Quotes
• May Quotes
• June Quotes
• July Quotes
• August Quotes
• September Quotes
• October Quotes
• December Quotes