Sunflower Quotes to Inspire and Brighten Your Day

From short and sweet to inspirational and meaningful, these sunflower quotes will brighten even the dreariest day.

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Updated on March 9, 2023

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During difficult days, sometimes we just need to stand tall and press our face to the sun – like the stately sunflower. Seeing a field of giant yellow flowers can't help but make us smile. Poets and writers have penned odes to this grand flower for decades. English poet, William Blake, wrote about them in "Ah! Sun-flower" in 1794! Sunflowers are at their peak in July, August, and September and are perfect for summer and fall flower arrangements. For a big (no pun intended) impact in your garden, plant sunflowers for some happy inspiration every day. They come in other colors, too, and according to our own Grumpy Gardener, they are the easiest flower to plant. Maybe I'll even grow one to rival the 30 ft. Guinness World Record holder grown by Hans-PeterSchiffer in 2014. While we're spending more time with family right now, maybe grow your own sunflowers or even take a drive to a sunflower field near you. In the meantime, here are some inspirational and cute sunflower quotes to enjoy.

Inspirational Sunflower Quotes

William Blake

"Ah! sunflower, weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the sun,

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the traveller's journey is done;

Where the youth pined away with desire,

And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,

Arise from their graves and aspire;

Where my sunflower wishes to go."

Henry Ward Beecher

"Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and hollyhock."

Joe Hill

"Who knows what may lie around the next corner? There may be a window somewhere ahead. It may look out on a field of sunflowers."

Helen Keller

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do."

Pedro Calderon de la Barca

"Light-enchanted sunflower, thou

Who gazest ever true and tender

On the sun's revolving splendour."

Tim Firth

"Which makes it ironic my favorite flower isn't even indigenous to the British Isles, let alone Yorkshire. I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life that the sunflower. For me, that's because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life."

Matshona Dhliwayo

"If roses tried to be sunflowers, they would lose their beauty; and if sunflowers tried to be roses, they would lose their strength."

Sheila Carey

"In the morning the sunflower blossoms due to the sun's rays. This morning I just wanted to remind you that my heart blossoms with love for you every day I wake up and it is going to do that forever."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Fame is the scentless sunflower, with gaudy crown of gold; But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold."

Quentin L. Cook

"One of the remarkable characteristics of young wild sunflowers, in addition to growing in soil that is not hospitable, is how the young flower bud follows the sun across the sky. In doing so, it receives life-sustaining energy before bursting forth in its glorious yellow color.

Like the young sunflower, when we follow the Savior of the world, the Son of God, we flourish and become glorious despite the many terrible circumstances that surround us. He truly is our light and life."

Short Sunflower Quotes

Maori Proverb

"Turn your face to the sun, and shadows follow behind you."

Marie Williams Johnstone

"True friends are like bright sunflowers that never fade away, even over distance and time."

Thomas Bulfinch

"The sunflower is a favorite emblem of constancy."

Vincent van Gogh

"The sunflower is mine, in a way."

Richard Rohr

"The morning glories and the sunflowers turn naturally toward the light, but we have to be taught, it seems."

Jean Paul

"Every friend is to the other a sun, and a sunflower also. He attracts and follows."

Unknown

"I want to be like a sunflower; so that even on the darkest days I will stand tall and find the sunlight."

Vera Nazarian

"Never look directly at the sun. Instead, look at the sunflower."

Cute Sunflower Quotes for Friends

Jerry Spinelli

"Her smile put the sunflower to shame."

Simone Elkeles

"Does she realize she looks like a sunflower, ready to rain sunlight on all who look down upon her?"

Allen Ginsberg

"We're all golden sunflowers inside."

J.R. Rim

"Sunflowers end up facing the sun, but they go through a lot of dirt to find their way there."

Pam Stewart

"If I were a flower…I would be a sunflower. To always follow the sun, turn my back to darkness, stand proud, tall and straight even with my head full of seeds."