--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am sure the grapes are sour." description: "\"I am sure the grapes are sour.\" — Aesop" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg" --- # I am sure the grapes are sour. ![“I am sure the grapes are sour.” quote by Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg) > “I am sure the grapes are sour.” [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Denial of desire leads to rationalizing that what we cannot have is undesirable. **In simple terms:** We claim something we can’t get isn’t good. Key Takeaway Acknowledge true feelings. Themes desire denial self‑deception Mood thoughtful cautionary Type fable moral When to use this quote - personal setbacks - goal setting - self‑reflection Key Concepts cognitive dissonance psychological defense motivation Questions to Reflect On - What desires do you dismiss? - How can you face unattainable goals? A Different Perspective Rationalizing can hinder growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes/) [Grapes Sour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes-sour-430131/) [Sour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sour/) [Sure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sure/) [Sure Grapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sure-grapes-690740/) ## Related quotes > [The television critic, whatever his pretensions, does not labour in the same vineyard as those he criticizes; his grapes are all sour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/the-television-critic-whatever-his-pretensions-does-not-labour-in-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [“My! How the grapes are sour today!" -Rhett Butler”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/my-how-the-grapes-are-sour-today-rhett-butler/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [I thought these grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/i-thought-these-grapes-were-ripe-but-i-see-now-they-are-quite-sour/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“In a classic Aesop’s Fable, a hungry fox encounters grapes hanging from a vine. The fox desperately wants the grapes. But as hard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/in-a-classic-aesop-s-fable-a-hungry-fox-encounters-grapes-hanging/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [No mirror ever became iron again; No bread ever became wheat; No ripened grape ever became sour fruit. Mature yourself and be secure from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/no-mirror-ever-became-iron-again-no-bread-ever-became-wheat-no/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is stuff I would have liked to have done. But there are no sour grapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/there-is-stuff-i-would-have-liked-to-have-done-but-there-are-no-sour/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [I keep sour grapes in the fridge all the time. And I eat those all day long, all week long, all month. All the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-earnhardt-jr/i-keep-sour-grapes-in-the-fridge-all-the-time-and-i-eat-those-all-day/) [Dale Earnhardt Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-earnhardt-jr/) > [Dennis has not behaved well and the fact he has taken it with bad grace shows we made the right decision. It smacks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-lowe/dennis-has-not-behaved-well-and-the-fact-he-has-taken-it-with-bad/) [Rupert Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-lowe/) > [One who can find lemons sweet and grapes sour is ready for Dame Fortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/one-who-can-find-lemons-sweet-and-grapes-sour-is-ready-for-dame/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [I didn't watch the Emmys because - well, for one, I have been to awards shows, and I understand how it works. For another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-fuller/i-didn-t-watch-the-emmys-because-well-for-one-i-have-been-to-awards/) [Kurt Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-fuller/) > [The word snob belongs to the sour-grape vocabulary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/the-word-snob-belongs-to-the-sour-grape-vocabulary/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [Sometimes I think that love is one big fairy tale. I wonder if people who say they are in love, if – really –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-chandler/sometimes-i-think-that-love-is-one-big-fairy-tale-i-wonder-if-people/) [Elizabeth Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-chandler/) > [A discerning man, when he eats grapes, takes only the ripe ones and leaves the sour. Thus also the discerning mind carefully marks the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-climacus/a-discerning-man-when-he-eats-grapes-takes-only-the-ripe-ones-and/) [John Climacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-climacus/) > [I suppose that the main benefit of being rich (over just being independent) is to be able to despise rich people (a good concentration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/i-suppose-that-the-main-benefit-of-being-rich-over-just-being/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More by Aesop > [“Lay not the blame on me, O sailor, but on the winds. By nature I am as calm and safe as the land itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/lay-not-the-blame-on-me-o-sailor-but-on-the-winds-by-nature-i-am-as/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/it-is-in-vain-to-expect-our-prayers-to-be-heard-if-we-do-not-strive/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/beware-of-a-wolf-in-sheep-s-clothing/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Better a long life of toil than a short one of ease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/better-a-long-life-of-toil-than-a-short-one-of-ease/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/don-t-let-your-special-character-and-values-the-secret-that-you-know/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Every man carries two bags about him, one in front and one behind, and both are full of faults. The bag in front contains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/every-man-carries-two-bags-about-him-one-in-front-and-one-behind-and/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [It pays to be content with your lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/it-pays-to-be-content-with-your-lot/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/be-content-with-your-lot-one-cannot-be-first-in-everything/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Equals make the best friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/equals-make-the-best-friends/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [once upon a time all the rivers combined to protest against the action of the sea in making their waters salt. "When we come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/once-upon-a-time-all-the-rivers-combined-to-protest-against-the/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [In union there is strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/in-union-there-is-strength/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“Be content with your lot; once cannot be first in everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/be-content-with-your-lot-once-cannot-be-first-in-everything/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [False friends leave you in times of trouble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/false-friends-leave-you-in-times-of-trouble/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/better-beans-and-bacon-in-peace-than-cakes-and-ale-in-fear/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [“The Sun is bad enough even while he is single, drying up our marshes with his heat as he does. But what will become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/the-sun-is-bad-enough-even-while-he-is-single-drying-up-our-marshes/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) [Explore all 297 Aesop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) ## More Grapes quotes > [Or for the gorgeously bare vampire to give her a sensual massage while feeding her peeled grapes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/or-for-the-gorgeously-bare-vampire-to-give-her-a-sensual-massage/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [The grape Hyacinth is the favorite spring flower of my garden - but no! I though a minute ago the Scilla was! and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/the-grape-hyacinth-is-the-favorite-spring-flower-of-my-garden-but-no/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [I could spend a whole day at a spa. I'd get a facial, a scalp rub, massages, then eat some grapes and be good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dule-hill/i-could-spend-a-whole-day-at-a-spa-i-d-get-a-facial-a-scalp-rub/) [Dule Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dule-hill/) > [The television critic, whatever his pretensions, does not labour in the same vineyard as those he criticizes; his grapes are all sour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-raphael/the-television-critic-whatever-his-pretensions-does-not-labour-in-the/) [Frederic Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-raphael/) > [My passions are the grapes that I tread out for mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-adle/my-passions-are-the-grapes-that-i-tread-out-for-mankind/) [Alfred Adle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-adle/) > [Mr. D, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator. He looked up lazily. "Do you mind?" Where's Chiron!" I shouted. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/mr-d-wearing-his-leopard-skin-jogging-suit-and-rummaging-through-the/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/work-is-love-made-visible-and-if-you-cannot-work-with-love-but-only/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Victory won't come to me unless I go to it; a grape tendril ties a knot in knots till knotted thirty times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/victory-won-t-come-to-me-unless-i-go-to-it-a-grape-tendril-ties-a/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [WINE, n.Fermented grape-juice known to the Women's Christian Union as "liquor," sometimes as "rum." Wine, madam, is God's next best gift to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/wine-n-fermented-grape-juice-known-to-the-women-s-christian-union-as/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [And never since harvests were ripened, / Or laborers born, / Have men gathered figs of the thistle, / Or grapes of the thorn!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-cary/and-never-since-harvests-were-ripened-or-laborers-born-have-men/) [Phoebe Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-cary/) > [I am no longer a divine biped. I am no longer the freest German after Goethe, as Ruge named me in healthier days. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/i-am-no-longer-a-divine-biped-i-am-no-longer-the-freest-german-after/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [Unlike every other product that is now manufactured for the table, wine exists in as many varieties as there are people who produce it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/unlike-every-other-product-that-is-now-manufactured-for-the-table/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“The winter will be short, the summer long, The autumn amber-hued, sunny and hot, Tasting of cider and of scuppernong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elinor-wylie/the-winter-will-be-short-the-summer-long-the-autumn-amber-hued-sunny/) [Elinor Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elinor-wylie/) [Browse all 368 Grapes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am sure the grapes are sour.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aesop" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grapes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/aesop-1073_grapes_i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour-1654463_1654463.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am sure the grapes are sour.” — Aesop", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Aesop", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am sure the grapes are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/i-am-sure-the-grapes-are-sour/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```