58 Inspiring Quotes About Roses

Roses have long been cherished for their beauty and symbolism, embodying everything from love and passion to resilience and renewal. Across cultures and centuries, these blooms have inspired poets, writers, and thinkers to capture their essence in words, offering reflections that resonate with the complexities of the human experience. In this collection of quotes, discover how the simple elegance of roses not only mirrors our emotions but also serves as a poignant reminder of the delicate balance between beauty and thorns. Let these inspiring words transport you to gardens of thought where each quote blossoms with wisdom and inspiration.

1. “An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it makes a better soup.” - H.L. Mencken

2. “Rose, oh pure contradiction, joyof being No-one's sleep under so manylids.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

3. “She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her...” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

4. “Feeling at peace, however fragilely, made it easy to slip into the visionary end of the dark-sight. The rose shadows said that they loved the sun, but that they also loved the dark, where their roots grew through the lightless mystery of the earth. The roses said: You do not have to choose. ” - Robin McKinley

5. “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” - Alphonse Karr

6. “You're beautiful, but you're empty...One couldn't die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass, since she's the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she's the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three butterflies). Since she's the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

7. “What a lovely thing a rose is!"He walked past the couch to the open window and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me, for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural objects. "There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as religion," said he, leaning with his back against the shutters. "It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

8. “She's like snow in Russian," said Anna. "Snow in the evening when the sun sets and it looks like Alpengluhen, you know? And if snow had a scent it would smell like that [the rose]....” - Eva Ibbotson

9. “If I say your voice is an amber waterfall in which I yearn to burn each day, if you eat my mouth like a mystical rose with powers of healing and damnation, If I confess that your body is the only civilization I long to experience… would it mean that we are close to knowing something about love?” - Aberjhani

10. “Princess,” he whispered against her ear. “My beautiful, beautiful princess. I want to spoil you. Pamper you. Indulge you.” - Teresa Medeiros

11. “Je t'aime Roza...je serais là pour toi. Je ne laisserais jamais rien t'arriver.Et je ne laisserais jamais rien t'arriver non plus. Je t'aime.” - Richelle Mead

12. “Women Are Not RosesWomen have no beginningonly continualflows.Though rivers flowwomen are notrivers.Women are notrosesthey are not oceansor stars.i would like to tellher this buti think shealready knows.” - Ana Castillo

13. “I feel as if I had opened a book and found roses of yesterday sweet and fragrant, between its leaves.” - L.M. Montgomery

14. “Roses! I swear you men have all your romance from the same worn book. Flowers are a good thing, a sweet thing to give a lady. But it is always roses, always red, and always perfect hothouse blooms when they can come by them.” - Patrick Rothfuss

15. “It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years I had roses, and apologized to no one.” - Alan Moore

16. “For millions of years flowers have been producing thorns. For millions of years sheep have been eating them all the same. And it's not serious, trying to understand why flowers go to such trouble to produce thorns that are good for nothing? It's not important, the war between the sheep and the flowers? It's no more serious and more important than the numbers that fat red gentleman is adding up? Suppose I happen to know a unique flower, one that exists nowhere in the world except on my planet, one that a little sheep can wipe out in a single bite one morning, just like that, without even realizing what he'd doing - that isn't important? If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all the millions and millions of stars, that's enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars. He tells himself 'My flower's up there somewhere...' But if the sheep eats the flower, then for him it's as if, suddenly, all the stars went out. And that isn't important?” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

17. “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

18. “Love is like the wild rose-briar; Friendship like the holly-tree. The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms, but which will bloom most constantly?” - Emily Brontë

19. “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” - Maud Hart Lovelace

20. “Rosa que al prado, encarnada,te ostentas presuntuosade grana y carmín bañada:campa lozana y gustosa;pero no, que siendo hermosatambien serás desdichada.” - Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

21. “Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemos.” - Bernard Of Cluny

22. “Sah ein Knab' ein Röslein stehn,Röslein auf der Heiden,war so jung und morgenschön,lief er schnell, es nah zu sehn,sah's mit vielen Freuden.Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot,Röslein auf der Heiden.Knabe sprach: „Ich breche dich,Röslein auf der Heiden!“Röslein sprach: „Ich steche dich,dass du ewig denkst an mich,und ich will's nicht leiden.“Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot,Röslein auf der Heiden.Und der wilde Knabe brach'sRöslein auf der Heiden;Röslein wehrte sich und stach,half ihm doch kein Weh und Ach,musst' es eben leiden.Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot,Röslein auf der Heiden.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

23. “The rose has toldIn one simplicityThat never lifeRelinquishes a bloomBut to bestowAn ancient confidence.” - Nathalia Crane

24. “I haven't much time to be fond of anything ... but when I have a moment's fondness to bestow, most times ... the roses get it. I began my life among them in my father's nursery garden, and I shall end my life among them, if I can. Yes. One of these days (please God) I shall retire from catching thieves, and try my hand at growing roses.” - Wilkie Collins

25. “There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.” - Dorothy L. Sayers

26. “He picked up one of Lorna's roses and set it in my lap. "Here." I picked it up and smelled it. He poked me in the shoulder. "See what I mean? Thorns don't stop you from sniffing. Or putting them in a vase on the kitchen table. You work around them.... Cause the rose is worth it... Think what you'd miss.” - Charles Martin

27. “I'd rather let you cover all my roads with thorns than with dead roses.” - Nema Al-Araby

28. “Maybe there's a whole other universe where a square moon rises in the sky, and the stars laugh in cold voices, and some of the triangles have four sides, and some have five, and some have five raised to the fifth power of sides. In this universe there might grow roses which sing. Everything leads to everything.” - Stephen King

29. “The rose is a rose, And was always a rose. But now the theory goes That the apple's a rose, And the pear is, and so's The plum, I suppose. The dear only knows What will next prove a rose. You, of course, are a rose But were always a rose.” - Robert Frost

30. “This rose of pearl-coated infinity transformsthe diseased slums of a broken heartinto a palace made of psalms and gold.” - Aberjhani

31. “Someone heroic and valiant, not merely skilled in speech; someone who is kind and pure in heart. Someone who does not play with white roses that belong to others.” - Sarah Mally

32. “...At that moment, our fates entwined, Roses. I know not why, but I know it to be true—I am bound to you forevermore. There is nothing to regret.” - Juliette Miller

33. “You’re too sacred,” he continued, and his voice was husked with emotion. “You’re the one. My sunlit angel. My Roses. Mine.” - Juliette Miller

34. “I began to turn my body, but he held me and laid me back onto the bed, insistently, kissing my breasts but not lingering, kissing a line down my stomach and lower. “You want me to prove to you that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, Roses. Is that true, aye? Because I just can’t take this anymore.”I gasped as he licked into my sensitive flesh, wetting me with his soft strokes, speaking soft words against my skin. “If you insist on doubting me, Roses, if you absolutely insist on breaking down every defense that I have with your tears and your plush, wet, ripe beauty, then that’s what I’ll have to do, lass. Is that what you want from me? Proof?”I could only sigh a soft response, already falling, burning, wanting too much.” - Juliette Miller

35. “Roses and thorns are parts of the same plant. Somehow though, some people are concerned mainly about the roses. The rose is not on the plant for more than a week, but the thorns are there forever.Roses are teaching that the beauty of life will bloom, once you have taught yourself the lessons given by living with the thorns.” - Grigoris Deoudis

36. “It's like this," he'd explained once to Connie. "If someone gave you a single rose, you'd be happy, right?" "Okay," he went on, "Now imagine someone gives you ten thousand roses.""That is a whole lotta roses," she said. "That's too much.""Right. Too much. But more than that, it makes each individual rose much less special, right? It makes it hard to pick one out and say, 'That's the good one.' And it makes you want to just get rid of them all because none of them seem special now."Connie had narrowed her eyes. "Are you saying when you're at school you just want to get rid of everyone?” - Barry Lyga

37. “I believe in roses. Oh God, yes! I do believe in roses! And I believe in lots and lots and lots of them, too!” - C. JoyBell C.

38. “I believe in roses. And I believe in putting roses into a vase and sitting the vase on the table. I believe in getting lost and being found, I believe in going barefoot, and in laughter! My religion is to laugh at myself, whenever I can! I believe in the sunlight and in grey skies with big, beautiful clouds!” - C. JoyBell C.

39. “Dirait-onAbandon entouré d'abandon,tendresse touchant aux tendresses ...C'est ton intérieur qui sans cessese caresse, dirait-on;se caresse en soi-même,par son propre reflet éclairé.Ainsi tu inventes le thèmedu Narcisse exaucé.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

40. “En une seule fleurEnchantée de cet artifice,ton abondance l’avait osé.Tu étais assez riche, pour devenir centfois toi-même en une seule fleur;c’est l’état de celui qui aimeMais tu n’as pas pensé ailleurs.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

41. “Contre qui, rose,avez-vous adoptéces épines?Votre joie trop finevous a-t-elle forcéede devenir cette chosearmée?Mais de qui vous protègecette arme exagérée?Combien d’ennemis vous ai-jeenlevésqui ne la craignaient point?Au contraire, d’été en automne,vous blessez les soinsqu’on vous donne.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

42. “De ton rêve trop plein,fleur en dedans nombreuse,mouillée comme une pleureuse,tu te penches sur le matin.Tes douces forces qui dorment,dans un désir incertain,développent ces tendres formesentre joues et seins.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

43. “La rose complèteJ’ai une telle conscience de tonêtre, rose complète,que mon consentement te confondavec mon cœur en fête.Je te respire comme si tu étais,rose, toute la vie,et je me sens l’ami parfaitd’une telle amie.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

44. “C'est pourtant nous qui t'avons proposéde remplir ton calice.Enchantée de cet artifice,ton abondance l'avait osé.Tu étais assez riche, pour devenir cent fois toi-mêmeen une seule fleur;c'est l'état de celui qui aime ...Mais tu n'as pas pensé ailleurs.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

45. “Une rose seule, c'est toutes les roseset celle-ci: l'irremplaçable,le parfait, le souple vocableencadré par le texte des choses.Comment jamais dire sans ellece que furent nos espérances,et les tendres intermittences,dans la partance continuelle.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

46. “T'appuyant, fraîche clairerose, contre mon oeil fermé -,on dirait mille paupièressuperposéescontre la mienne chaude.Mille sommeils contre ma feintesous laquelle je rôdedans l'odorant labyrinthe.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

47. “Rose, toute ardente et pourtant claire,que l'on devrait nommer reliquairede Sainte-Rose ..., rose qui distribuecette troublante odeur de sainte nue.Rose plus jamais tentée, déconcertantede son interne paix; ultime amante,si loin d'Ève, de sa première alerte -,rose qui infiniment possède la perte.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

48. “Préfères-tu, rose, être l'ardente compagnede nos transports présents?Est-ce les souvenir qui davantage te gagnelorsqu'un bonheur se reprend?Tant de fois je t'ai vue, heureuse et sèche,- chaque pétale un linceul -dans un coffret odorant, à côté d'une mèche,ou dans un livre aimé qu'on relira seul.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

49. “Seule, ô abondante fleur,tu crées ton propre espace;tu te mires dans und glaced'odeur.Ton parfum entoure comme d'autres pétaleston innombrable calice.Je te retiens, tu t'étales,prodigieuse actrice.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

50. “Ne parlons pas de toi. Tu es ineffableselon ta nature.D'autres fleurs ornent la tableque tu transfigures.On te met dans un simple vase -,voici que tout change:c'est peut-être la même phrase,mais chantée par un ange.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

51. “C'est toi qui prépares en toiplus que toi, ton ultime essence.Ce qui sort de toi, ton ultime essence.Ce qui sort de toi, ce troublant émoi,c'est ta danse.Chaque pétale consentet fait dans le ventquelques pas odorantsinvisibles.Ô musiques des yeux,toute entourée d'eux,tu deviens au milieuintangible.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

52. “Est-ce en exemple que tu te proposes?Peut-on se remplir comme les roses,en multipliant sa subtile matièrequ'on avait faite pour ne rien faire?Car ce n'est pas travailler que d'êtreune rose, dirait-on.Dieu, en regardant par la fenêtre,fait la maison.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

53. “Dis-moi, rose, d'où vientqu'en toi-même enclose,ta lente essence imposeà cet espace en prosetous ces transports aérien?Combien de fois cet airprétend que les choses le trouent,ou, avec une moue,il se montre amer.Tandis qu'autour de ta chair,rose, il fait la roue.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

54. “Quite honestly, most of us don’t live in a world with perfect loam.” - Mark Whitelaw

55. “I'd love to have the whole place swimming in roses” - James Joyce

56. “With its leaves so rich and heavy with elation and its crimson face made brighter with visions of divinity the shadow of a certain rose looks just like an angel eating light.” - Aberjhani

57. “That afternoon my mother had brought me the roses."Save them for my funeral," I'd said.” - Sylvia Plath

58. “Beauty and love pass, I know... Oh, there's sadness, too. I suppose all great happiness is a little sad. Beauty means the scent of roses and then the death of roses-” - F. Scott Fitzgerald