Holidays & Occasions Fall 65 Fall Quotes To Celebrate the Beauty of the Season There's something special about the way the light shines through the leaves. By Zoe Denenberg Zoe Denenberg As a professional baker, Zoe Denenberg has spent the past two years traveling across the country—from Alabama to Hawai'i—working in farm-focused pastry kitchens. She has written about food, travel, and culture for Southern Living since 2019. See more of Zoe's work at https://zoedenenberg.wixsite.com/portfolio and follow her on Instagram. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on August 11, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Copyright George W Johnson/Getty Images From pumpkin-spiced-everything to hayrides and haunted houses, there is so much to love about the fall. Autumn represents change—the changing of the leaves, the start of a new school year, and maybe even the beginning of a few new resolutions. But somehow this season of change feels oh-so-familiar. Autumn represents the start of the holiday season, packed full of our nostalgic memories and traditions. And the annual shedding of the trees' leaves holds the everlasting promise of new blooms to come. In "Persuasion," Jane Austen describes autumn as "that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling." Throughout the years, romantics, modernists, and transcendentalists alike have basked in the glory of autumn, attempting to capture the spirit of the season on paper. Like a painter's rendering of an autumn landscape bursting with orange-gold leaves, a writer's words help pinpoint the feelings that the season stirs in us. Here are some of our favorite fall quotes to remind us of this season's particular beauty. 01 of 65 "And all at once, summer collapsed into fall" – Oscar Wilde. Southern Living "And all at once, summer collapsed into fall" – Oscar Wilde 02 of 65 "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower" – Albert Camus. Southern Living "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower" – Albert Camus 03 of 65 "Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day." – Shira Tamir. Southern Living "Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day." – Shira Tamir 04 of 65 "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." – George Eliot. Southern Living "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." – George Eliot 05 of 65 "I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." – Henry David Thoreau. Southern Living "I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." – Henry David Thoreau 06 of 65 "Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year." – Chad Sugg. Southern Living "Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year." – Chad Sugg 07 of 65 "Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." – Stanley Horowitz. Southern Living "Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." – Stanley Horowitz 08 of 65 Southern Living "If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour." – Victoria Erickson 09 of 65 "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." – Emily Brontë. Southern Living "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." – Emily Brontë 10 of 65 Southern Living "Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons." – Jim Bishop 11 of 65 "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." – F. Scott Fitzgerald. Southern Living "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." – F. Scott Fitzgerald 12 of 65 "Autumn… the year's last, loveliest smile." – William Cullen Bryant. Southern Living "Autumn… the year's last, loveliest smile." – William Cullen Bryant 13 of 65 "There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!" – Percy Shelley. Southern Living "There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!" – Percy Shelley 14 of 65 "Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonise." – George Eliot. Southern Living "Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonise." – George Eliot 15 of 65 "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." – L. M. Montgomery. Southern Living "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." – L. M. Montgomery 16 of 65 "The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." – John Muir. Southern Living "The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." – John Muir 17 of 65 "It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon." – Sarah Addison Allen. Southern Living "It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon." – Sarah Addison Allen 18 of 65 "The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter." – Shauna Niequist. Southern Living "The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter." – Shauna Niequist 19 of 65 "The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple." – J.K. Rowling. Southern Living "The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple." – J.K. Rowling 20 of 65 "Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance." – Yoko Ono. Southern Living "Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance." – Yoko Ono 21 of 65 "Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale." – Lauren DeStefano. Southern Living "Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale." – Lauren DeStefano 22 of 65 "No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face." – John Donne. Southern Living "No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face." – John Donne 23 of 65 "Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring." – Truman Capote. Southern Living "Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring." – Truman Capote 24 of 65 “Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” - Nora Ephron. Southern Living "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." – Nora Ephron 25 of 65 "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house." – Nathaniel Hawthorne. Southern Living "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house." – Nathaniel Hawthorne 26 of 65 "October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!" – Rainbow Rowell. Southern Living "October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!" – Rainbow Rowell 27 of 65 "Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, / We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!" – Humbert Wolfe. Southern Living "Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, / We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!" – Humbert Wolfe 28 of 65 "Autumn would come to this place of welcome, this place I would know to be home. Autumn would come and the air would grow cool, dry and magic, as it does that time of the year." – Henry Rollins. Southern Living "Autumn would come to this place of welcome, this place I would know to be home. Autumn would come and the air would grow cool, dry and magic, as it does that time of the year." – Henry Rollins 29 of 65 "Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer" – Wallace Stegner. Southern Living "Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer" – Wallace Stegner 30 of 65 "Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself." – Shauna Niequist. Southern Living "Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself." – Shauna Niequist 31 of 65 "There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves." – Joe L. Wheeler. Southern Living "There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves." – Joe L. Wheeler 32 of 65 "Fall colors are funny. They're so bright and intense and beautiful. It's like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary." – Siobhan Vivian. Southern Living "Fall colors are funny. They're so bright and intense and beautiful. It's like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary." – Siobhan Vivian 33 of 65 "It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it." – Diana Gabaldon. Southern Living "It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it." – Diana Gabaldon 34 of 65 "Days decrease, / And autumn grows, autumn in everything." – Robert Browning. Southern Living "Days decrease, / And autumn grows, autumn in everything." – Robert Browning 35 of 65 "I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it." – Lee Maynard. Southern Living "I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it." – Lee Maynard 36 of 65 "Pale amber sunlight falls across The reddening October trees, That hardly sway before a breeze As soft as summer: summer's loss Seems little, dear! on days like these." – Ernest Dowson. Southern Living "Pale amber sunlight falls acrossThe reddening October trees,That hardly sway before a breezeAs soft as summer: summer's lossSeems little, dear! on days like these." – Ernest Dowson 37 of 65 "I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colours richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age." – Lin Yutang. Southern Living "I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colours richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age." – Lin Yutang 38 of 65 "Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire." – Shauna Niequist. Southern Living "Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire." – Shauna Niequist 39 of 65 "When you fall in love with a work of art, you'd die to meet the artist. I am a student of the galleries of Pacific sunsets, full moon rises on the ocean, the clouds from an airplane, autumn forests in Raleigh, first fallen snows. And I'm dying to meet the artist." – Yasmin Mogahed. Southern Living "When you fall in love with a work of art, you'd die to meet the artist. I am a student of the galleries of Pacific sunsets, full moon rises on the ocean, the clouds from an airplane, autumn forests in Raleigh, first fallen snows. And I'm dying to meet the artist." – Yasmin Mogahed 40 of 65 "Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits." – Samuel Butler. Southern Living "Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits." – Samuel Butler 41 of 65 "October Country…That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay." – Ray Bradbury. Southern Living "October Country…That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay." – Ray Bradbury 42 of 65 "I was drinking in the surroundings: air so crisp you could snap it with your fingers and greens in every lush shade imaginable offset by autumnal flashes of red and yellow." – Wendy Delsol. Southern Living "I was drinking in the surroundings: air so crisp you could snap it with your fingers and greens in every lush shade imaginable offset by autumnal flashes of red and yellow." – Wendy Delsol 43 of 65 "Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable...the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street...by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese." – Hal Borland. Southern Living "Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable...the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street...by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese." – Hal Borland 44 of 65 "The tints of autumn...a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost." – John Greenleaf Whittier. Southern Living "The tints of autumn...a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost." – John Greenleaf Whittier 45 of 65 "Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron, and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under the harvest skies." – Sharon Kay Penman. Southern Living "Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron, and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under the harvest skies." – Sharon Kay Penman 46 of 65 "Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods." – William Wordsworth. Southern Living "Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods." – William Wordsworth 47 of 65 "Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year's end and day's beginnings." – Terri Guillemets. Southern Living "Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year's end and day's beginnings." – Terri Guillemets 48 of 65 "Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn." – Elizabeth Lawrence. Southern Living "Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn." – Elizabeth Lawrence 49 of 65 "How beautifully leaves grow old! How full of light and color are their last days!" – John Burroughs. Southern Living "How beautifully leaves grow old! How full of light and color are their last days!" – John Burroughs 50 of 65 "My favorite color is October." – Unknown. Southern Living "My favorite color is October." – Unknown 51 of 65 Southern Living "The leaves are changing; I feel poetry in the air." – Laura Jaworski 52 of 65 Southern Living "Even those fallen leaves dance, on the musical wind cadence." – Anoushka Tyagi 53 of 65 Southern Living "Autumn! The greatest show of all the times!" – Mehmet Murat ildan 54 of 65 Southern Living "The tree-lined streets formed golden archways of autumnal colour, and whatever foliage had already fallen formed a russet carpet that came alive and danced around our wheels as we drove over it." – Alex Kefford 55 of 65 Southern Living "Autumn is a visual gift given by nature to raise the morale of human beings who is worried as they enter the dark days of winter!" – Mehmet Murat ildan 56 of 65 Southern Living "Fall comes with different colors to challenge a green Summer" – Neamat Alishiryan 57 of 65 Southern Living "The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider." – Jane Hirshfield 58 of 65 Southern Living "As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see." – Vincent Van Gogh 59 of 65 Southern Living "When everything looks like a magical oil painting, you know you are in Autumn!"– Mehmet Murat ildan 60 of 65 Southern Living "Autumn leaves don't fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar." – Delia Owens 61 of 65 Southern Living "I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves." – Ann Drake 62 of 65 Southern Living "Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow, signaling the later days of autumn." – Dan Millman 63 of 65 Southern Living "He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams."– J.R.R. Tolkien 64 of 65 Southern Living "May you Fall in love with Octoberand all the beauty it brings,May your life be as colorful asthe turning of the leaves,On each blessed autumn day."— Charmaine J. Forde 65 of 65 Southern Living "And the yellow sunflower by the brook, in autumn beauty stood." – William Cullen Bryant Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit