Our Top Quotes About The Sun
Last Updated on November 28, 2023 by Matt Hapgood
6-8 Minute Read
Someone once said, “Here comes the sun do, do, do. Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s all right.”
They were right about two things. First, yes, the sun is coming / will come. And second, that it does indeed tend to make things alright.
That’s probably why so many of us stampede outdoors with the first sign of spring or shuffle closer to a window after a rainy day to bathe in the sunlight.
Sure, there are plenty of scientifically-backed reasons to explain why the sun makes things “all right.”
From improving your sleep by way of managing your melatonin levels to potentially granting you a few extra months or years of life – there are heaps of benefits to reap from our nearest star, and the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
But it’s ultimately the mere fact that this ball of fire is the quintessence of energy, and humans and the planet thrive on energy, which makes us appreciate and crave it so much.
As such, in the wake of the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice and the Northern Hemisphere Winter solstice, we thought it pertinent that we celebrate the sun.
For that, we have organized a list of our top quotes about the sun, ranging from book excerpts to poem and song verses, and interview quotes.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE SUN
1. The sun is similar to the Earth in that it is made of layers, yet it is completely different from the Earth in that it has no solid surface – its mass is comprised of 74% hydrogen, 24% helium, and 2% tiny amounts of nickel, iron, oxygen and an array of other elements found in the Solar System.
2. Due to the above-mentioned characteristics, different parts of the sun rotate at different speeds: it takes roughly 25 days for the areas at the equator to complete a single rotation, 36 days at the poles, and around 27 days for the inside of the sun.
3. Just like the Earth and most other planets, the sun has an atmosphere. One of the main differences is the size: it stretches as far as Jupiter, which means the Earth is within its “boundaries”.
4. As is the case with many stars, the core of the sun isn’t solid, but a bunch of compressed plasma fluctuating at temperatures as high as 27,000,000°F/15,000,000 °C – which is where heavy elements such as uranium, iron, and plutonium are created.
And when these stars explode, as they do now and then, these elements are released into space, eventually forming planets.
Hence, the carbon found in our cells and the iron in our blood really come from one of the sun’s siblings who exploded a long time ago.
5. Following the launch of the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) by NASA and ESA in December of 1995, NASA sent another mission in 2006 to observe the sun. Along with SOHO, the STEREO Spacecraft have been continuously watching the sun’s activity, thus helping astronomers to better understand the star as well as predict space weather.
BEST QUOTES ABOUT THE SUN
Below is our selection of the best sunset quotes ever written and spoken – from romantic to motivational, funny to poignant, nature-inspired to human-driven.
While reading these, remember that just like the people who wrote/spoke these words felt something powerful when expressing their thoughts and emotions about sunsets, you too can access such a state of mind and spirit by making a conscious effort.
And by getting out there to watch the sunset!
“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” –– Christopher McCandless
“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.” –– Elvis Presley
“After every storm, the sun will smile; for every problem, there is a solution, and the soul’s indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer.” –– William R. Alger
“The Sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.” –– Henry Ward Beecher
“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” –– Victor Hugo
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” –– Buddha
“The Sun illuminates only the eyes of the man but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.”
–– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Neither the sun nor death can be looked at with a steady eye.” –– Francois de La Rochefoucauld
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” –– Alexander Graham Bell
“I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days.” –– Henry David Thoreau
“The chances of each of us coming into existence are infinitesimally small, and even though we shall all die someday, we should count ourselves fantastically lucky to get our decades in the sun.” –– Richard Dawkins
“The Sun himself is weak when he first rises and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” –– Charles Dickens
“Modern science says: ‘The sun is the past, the earth is the present, the moon is the future.’ From an incandescent mass we have originated, and into a frozen mass, we shall turn. Merciless is the law of nature, and rapidly and irresistibly we are drawn to our doom.” –– Nikola Tesla
“The Sun is the most important thing in everybody’s life, whether you’re a plant, an animal, or a fish, and we take it for granted.”–– Danny Boyle
“O, Sunshine! The most precious gold to be found on earth.” –– Roman Payne
“The Sun, the hearth of affection and life, pours burning love on the delighted earth.” –– Arthur Rimbaud
“There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind.” –– Annie Dillard
“Don’t let the shadows of yesterday spoil the sunshine of tomorrow. Live for today.” –– Nandina Morris
“At rest, however, in the middle of everything is the sun.” –– Nicolaus Copernicus
“As the Sun peaks over the mountain, it’s a new day on our miraculous planet. Reason alone for celebration.” –– Oprah Winfrey
“The Sun never repents of the good he does, nor does he ever demand a recompense.” –– Benjamin Franklin
“We may have bad weather in Ireland, but the sun shines in the hearts of the people and that keeps us all warm.” –– Marianne Williamson
“The Sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” –– Galileo Galilei
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” –– Albert Schweitzer
“It’s the artist’s business to create sunshine when the Sun falls.” –– Romain Rolland
“Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.” –– Washington Irving
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” –– Unknown
“No sun outlasts its sunset, but it will rise again and bring the dawn.” –– Maya Angelou
“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
“Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?” –– Rose Kennedy
“The Sun is a daily reminder that we, too, can rise again from the darkness, that we, too, can shine our own light.” –– S. Ajna
“The day of the Sun is like the day of a king. It is a promenade in the morning, a sitting on the throne at noon, a pageant in the evening.” –– Wallace Stevens
“I have no doubt that we will be successful in harnessing the sun’s energy. If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago.” –– George Porter
“Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love.” –– William Shakespeare
“Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful, and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun.” –– Don Miguel Ruiz
“If I had to have a religion, I should adore the Sun, for it is the Sun that fertilizes everything.” ––Napoleon Bonaparte
“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.” –– Pablo Picasso
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” –– John F. Kennedy
“The Sun, Moon and Stars are there to guide us.” –– Dennis Banks
“Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.” –– John Ruskin
“It is so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done.” –– Matthew Arnold
“The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.” –– Henry David Thoreau
“The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises.” –– Sigmund Freud
“You must be a lotus, unfolding its petals when the sun rises in the sky, unaffected by the slush where it is born or even the water which sustains it! –– Sai Baba
“The insufferable arrogance of human beings to think that Nature was made solely for their benefit, as if it was conceivable that the sun had been set afire merely to ripen men’s apples and head their cabbages.” –– Cyrano de Bergerac
“Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the sky. Life is matter and is earth, what is and what is not, and what beyond is in Eternity.” –– Lucius Annaeus Seneca
“Humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning.” –– Joy Harjo
“The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet.” –– Rebecca Harding Davis
“Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.” –– Nelson Mandela
“When the moon covers the sun, we have a solar eclipse. What do you call it when birds do that?” –– Kim Young-ha
Bonus: A POEM ABOUT THE SUN
As in our post about sunsets, we thought we would end this one with a poem, too. This time by the famous 16th-century English metaphysical poet, John Donne.
The Sun Rising
By John Donne
“Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices,
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
Thy beams, so reverend and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long;
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,
Whether both th’ Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw’st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.
She’s all states, and all princes, I,
Nothing else is.
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world’s contracted thus.
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.
