Winter Quotes to Get You Through the Coldest Yet Magical Season of the Year

There’s something about winter that arouses the senses.

Below you’ll find a few poignant winter quotes that will warm up your heart despite the biting cold. 

What do you like about winter?

Enjoy them as you revel in the magic, the drama and the beauty of snow fall and crystal-clear icicles gathered on your window panes, doorsteps, rooftops, trees, and fields as far as your eyes can see.

Don’t forget that hot cup of cocoa, those fuzzy socks and of course, the comfy blankie.

Doesn’t hurt if you’re also bundled up with a good book in tow while your favorite winter jam is playing in the background.

Here is our collection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking winter quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

We also have a compilation of inspirational snow quotes and tips on getting motivated in winter for those who want to love the cold weather just a bit more.

If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Winter quotes that will arouse your senses

1. “A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn’t mean in winter.” – Patricia Briggs from “Dragon’s Blood”

You will also enjoy our article on The 100 quotes.

2. “Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day.” – Elizabeth Bowen

3. “Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man’s ingratitude.” – William Shakespeare

4. “‘Hear! hear!’ screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, ‘winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it.'” – Henry David Thoreau

5. “How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!” – Thomas Wentworth Higginson

6. “I got all my boyhood in vanilla winter waves around the kitchen stove.” – Jack Kerouac

7. “I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce.” – Taylor Swift

8. “I pray this winter be gentle and kind–a season of rest from the wheel of the mind. ” – John Geddes

9. “I prefer winter and Fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape–the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” – Andrew Wyeth

10. “If winter helps you curl up and more that makes it one of the best of the seasons.” – Murray Pura

You might also like these winter solstice quotes that explain some of our winter and holiday traditions.

Winter quotes to warm up your heart

11. “In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” – William Blake (see more William Blake quotes)

12. “In winter we behold the charms of solemn majesty and naked grandeur.” – James Ellis

13. “It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.” – John Burroughs

14. “It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” – Charles Dickens

15. “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” – Victor Hugo

16. “Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.” – Pietro Aretino

17. “Nothing burns like the cold.” – George R.R. Martin

18. “The color of springtime is flowers; the color of winter is in our imagination.” – Terri Guillemets

19. “The fire is winter’s fruit.” – Arabian Proverb

20. “They who sing through the summer must dance in the winter.” – Italian Proverb

Also check out these motivational January quotes that will elevate your perspective.

Winter quotes to celebrate the season

21. “We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives.” – Gary Zukhav

22. “Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless. ” – Terri Guillemets

23. “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. ” – John Steinbeck

24. “Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.” – Alexandra Guarnaschelli

25. “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” – Paul Theroux

26. “Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” – Victor Hugo

27. “Every winter has its spring.” – H. Tuttle 

28. “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” – Anne Bradstreet

29. “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” – Percy Bysshe Shelley from “Ode to the West Wind”

30. “If you think my winter is too cold, you don’t deserve my spring.” – Erin Hanson

Winter quotes to make you see the beauty of the season

31. “In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.” – Ben Aaronovitch from “Broken Homes” 

32. “In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus

33. “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” – Hal Borland

34. “One kind word can warm three winter months.” – Japanese Proverb 

35. “Surrendering to the fact of winter is a relief: I am grateful for these lingering days of cold. They offer me a few more weeks of quiet and slow before spring emerges, the wheel picks up speed again, and the sound of its exciting spinning fills my days.” – Kelsi Turner

36. “The winter is a slow time, but it’s not lifeless. As you huddle against the cold on a February day, you may be ready for spring to come. But all around you, there are other forms of life that are ready too.” – Beth Botts

37. “We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives.” – Gary Zukhav

38. “Winter is a glorious spectacle of glittering fractals complete with a soundscape and atmosphere entirely its own.” – Anders Swanson

39. “Scarves, mittens, and hats are a great way to express your personality in the cold weather.” – Brad Goreski

40. “Winter is a time to slow. To grab hold of that wheel that spins your days too quickly and give it a firm tug. To let your thoughts catch up with your body. To pin down that idea that’s been circling your mind for months. To remember that life isn’t an emergency.” – Kelsi Turner

Powerful winter quotes to inspire you

41. “Winter is nature’s sleep.” – H. S. Jacobs

42. “Winter is not a season in the North Middlewest; it is an industry.” – Sinclair Lewis

43. “Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.” – Anamika Mishra 

44. “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” – Edith Sitwell from “Taken Care Of” 

45. “Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” – Yoko Ono

 46. “Winter finds out what summer lays up.” – Coryate

47. “Winter then in its early and clear stages, was a purifying engine that ran unhindered over city and country, alerting the stars to sparkle violently and shower their silver light into the arms of bare upreaching trees. It was a mad and beautiful thing that scoured raw the souls of animals and man.” – Mark Helprin

48. “Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.” – John Boswell 

49. “Winter’s notion of poetry is tragedy. It knows nothing of comedy. Its laughter was frozen on its lips long ago.” – William A. Quayle

50. “There is a grandeur in winter, stern and wild it may be, but a grandeur which speaks to the soul.” – C. J. Peterson

Don’t forget to also read these uplifting April quotes to keep you pushing forward with positivity.

More winter quotes and sayings

51. “A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.” – Carl Reiner

52. “Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.” – Haruki Murakami

53. “Winter is nature’s way of saying, “up yours.” – Robert Byrne

54. “Winter collapsed on us that year. It knelt, exhausted, and stayed.” – Emily Fridlund

55. “The winter will be long and bleak. Nature has a dismal aspect.” – Charles Nodier

56. “The air in his lungs is crisp and bright and difficult to breathe. Everything feels too much. Too wide and too open. Too cold and too strange.” – Erin Morgenstern

57. “For winter was coming. The days were shorter, and frost crawled up the window panes at night. Soon the snow would come. Then the log house would be almost buried in snowdrifts, and the lake and the stream would freeze.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder

58. “It is deep winter with shivering cold air, but my heart is dancing with joy and spring flowers.” – Debasish Mridha

59. “Winter is the time for stories, staying fast by the glow of fire. And outside, in the darkness, the stars are brighter than you can possibly imagine.” – Isabel Greenberg

60. “Let winter come. Let the snow fall and consume Bath in a shroud of silence. Let everything feel as bound and stifled as my heart.” – Rose Tremain

Winter Quotes for chilly days

61. “Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder–no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.” – Candace Bushnell

62. “You can’t get too much winter in the winter.”  – Robert Frost

63. “The pine stays green in winter…wisdom in hardship.” – Norman Douglas

64. “While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best.”  – Tom Allen

65. “Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality.”  – Andy Goldsworthy

66. “There’s nothing better than curling up with a good book and sitting in front of the fire on winter evenings.”  – Leo Sayer

67. “…there’s beauty in autumn and winter and I think people forget that.”  – Helen Baxendale

68. “He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.”  – John Burroughs

69. “As winter approaches – bringing cold weather and family drama – we crave page-turners, books made for long nights and tryptophan-induced sloth.”  – Sarah MacLean

70. “The world looks like something God had just imagined for His own pleasure, doesn’t it? Those trees look as if I could blow them away with a breath–pouf! I’m so glad I live in a world where there are white frosts, aren’t you?”  – Lucy Maud Montgomery

Noteworthy winter quotes

71. “One can follow the sun, of course, but I have always thought that it is best to know some winter, too, so that the summer, when it arrives, is the more gratefully received.” ― Beatriz Williams

72. “To keep a warm heart in winter is the real victory.” ― Marty Rubin

73. “There is an instinctive withdrawal for the sake of preservation, a closure that assumes the order of completion. Winter is a season unto itself.” ― Haruki Murakami

74. “It seems like everything sleeps in winter, but it’s really a time of renewal and reflection.” ― Elizabeth Camden

75. “Summer is for surrendering; winter is for wondering.” ― Debasish Mridha

76. “It’s so hard to think in winter. The world seems confined in the space of your heart; you can’t see beyond yourself.” ― Patricia A. McKillip

77. “She was not a girl of ice and glass at all, but a girl of sunshine and stardust.” ― Marissa Meyer

78. “I’m pretty lost in becoming all this frost. Bitter, like Winter. Strung-out like a string of pearls.” ― Ashly Lorenzana

79. “Winter changes into stone the water of heaven and the heart of man.” ― Victor Hugo

80. “Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.” ― George R.R. Martin

Winter quotes to appreciate this cold season

81. “People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” ― Anton Chekhov

82. “To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” ― Aristotle

83. “There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you’re special.” — Carol Rifka Brunt

84. “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” — Lewis Carroll

85. “Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

86. “I like the cold weather. It means you get work done.” — Noam Chomsky

87. “Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.” ― Sara Raasch

88. “Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o’clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without.” ―Thomas De Quincey

89. “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

90. “Snow was falling, so much like stars filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.” ― Mary Oliver

Winter quotes for Instagram

91. “Winter is coming.”― George R.R. Martin

92. “This winter, there will be no voices, no glimpses, no arms.
only the fabric of poetry, to keep me warm.”― Sanober Khan

93. “The first snow is like the first love.”― Lara Biyuts

94. “In your winter you deny your spring,”― Kahlil Gibran

95. “…I pray this winter be gentle and kind – a season of rest from the wheel of the mind…”― John Geddes

96. “It is winter–the best time to dream of spring.”― Debasish Mridha

97. “Maybe eventually winter will finish our job for us and end the world in ice instead of blood.”
― Isaac Marion

98. “You have to feel the bite of the wind to appreciate the warmth of a winter coat.”
― Fennel Hudson

99. “Oh, how magical it will be to have winter come every year.”― Clara Troltenier

100. “I love winter. The bugs are dead, and the people are indoors.”― Dennis Ruane

Winter Quotes to Brighten Your Season

101. “Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do – or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so.” — Stanley Crawford

102. “Winter is the king of showmen, turning tree stumps into cathedrals of ice.” — Rivers J. Barrow

103. “Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat.” — Mark Twain

104. “Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a good book.” — Jane Smiley

105. “Winter is a magical season. It transforms the familiar into the fantastic.” — Susan Hill

106. “I actually liked the disolation of winter; it was the season when it was okay to be unhappy. If I were to ever kill myself, I thought it would be in the summer.” — Curtis Sittenfeld

107. “Anne came dancing home in the purple winter twilight across the snowy places.” — Lucy Maud Montgomery

108. “I’ve never gotten used to winter and never will.” — Jamaica Kincaid

109. “I enjoy hiking and skiing, like most Norwegians. In winter, there will be snow for months on end. In the summer, there are the long evenings to enjoy.” — Magnus Carlsen

110. “Winter is the time of love and of taking the light within.” — Terry Taylo1

Did you enjoy these winter quotes?

Many novels and films are set during winter because, perhaps, the almost melancholic nature of the season makes a great setting for romantic tales of love and triumph over adversity. 

These winter quotes are proof that we’re all in this together, finding beauty and grandeur despite the white backdrop of snow Mother Nature has momentarily covered our world with. 

Winter may be dreary, wet, cold and bleak but from another perspective, winter may be the perfect time to rest and re-evaluate our purpose, take a moment to breathe and re-set our timeclocks, and get ready for the springs and summers of our lives. 

Which of these beautiful winter quotes is your favorite?

Do you have any other inspirational quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.