--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a…" description: "\"A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.\" — Bret Harte" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg" --- # A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush… ![“A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.” quote by Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg) > “A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.” [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Certainty is valuable, but potential opportunities may hold greater rewards despite uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Sure things are safe; unknowns may be better. Key Takeaway Weigh security against possible greater gains. Themes risk certainty opportunity Mood thoughtful cautious Type proverbial philosophical When to use this quote - investment choices - career moves - personal goals Key Concepts economics decision theory Questions to Reflect On - Are you clinging to safety over potential? - What could you gain by embracing uncertainty? A Different Perspective Risk can lead to loss; not all unknowns are beneficial. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [A bird in hand is a certainty. But a bird in the bush may sing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/a-bird-in-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a-bird-in-the-bush-may-sing/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/he-is-a-fool-who-lets-slip-a-bird-in-the-hand-for-a-bird-in-the-bush/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [A bird in the hand may be worth two in the bush, but remember also that a bird in the hand is a positive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ade/a-bird-in-the-hand-may-be-worth-two-in-the-bush-but-remember-also/) [George Ade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ade/) > [As they say - a bird in the hand is worth one in the bush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micky-quinn/as-they-say-a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-one-in-the-bush/) Micky Quinn > [“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glynn-stewart/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-two-in-the-bush/) [Glynn Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glynn-stewart/) > [A bird in the hand is worth more than a Bush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-cube/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-more-than-a-bush/) [Ice Cube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-cube/) > [Bird in hand makes it harder to blow nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/bird-in-hand-makes-it-harder-to-blow-nose/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“When someone loves you, they don't need to tell you every minute of the day, Shown that you meant it is more important, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adhutchinson/when-someone-loves-you-they-don-t-need-to-tell-you-every-minute-of/) ADHutchinson > [“I was a fool,' I say, because I might as well admit it. 'I gave up the bird in my hand for two in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/i-was-a-fool-i-say-because-i-might-as-well-admit-it-i-gave-up-the/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [“A bird in the hand is worth plucking, frying, and sticking between two bits of bread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-burns/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-plucking-frying-and-sticking-between-two/) [Edward Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-burns/) > [“A bird in the hand loses its mystery in no time flat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/a-bird-in-the-hand-loses-its-mystery-in-no-time-flat/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…unless the bird has the flu!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankala-subbarao/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-two-in-the-bush-unless-the-bird-has-the/) [Ankala Subbarao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankala-subbarao/) > [I cannot help esteem The 'Bird within the Hand' Superior to the one The 'Bush' may yield me Or may not Too late to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-cannot-help-esteem-the-bird-within-the-hand-superior-to-the-one-the/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bushes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mildred-stallworth/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-two-in-the-bushes/) Mildred Stallworth > [“You can lead a horse to water but a bird in hand can't fool me twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-leland-taylor/you-can-lead-a-horse-to-water-but-a-bird-in-hand-can-t-fool-me-twice/) [Robert Leland Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-leland-taylor/) ## More by Bret Harte > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“Nellie was a good girl, and I think had a sort of quiet respect for old Fagg's unobtrusiveness. But her fancy was already taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/nellie-was-a-good-girl-and-i-think-had-a-sort-of-quiet-respect-for/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Perhaps there is no gift of nature that requires as little exertion on the part of the owner as personal beauty. I am not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/perhaps-there-is-no-gift-of-nature-that-requires-as-little-exertion/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Howbeit, though no scholar, I am not one of those who misuse the English speech, and, being foolishly led by the hasty custom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/howbeit-though-no-scholar-i-am-not-one-of-those-who-misuse-the/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“Tommy, you're a good little man, but you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again.' He then handed him his money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/tommy-you-re-a-good-little-man-but-you-can-t-gamble-worth-a-cent-don/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“I've had some mighty mean moments afore I kem to this spot,-- Lost on the plains in '50, drowned almost, and shot; But out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/i-ve-had-some-mighty-mean-moments-afore-i-kem-to-this-spot-lost-on/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But, when the goddess' work is done,The woman's still remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/but-when-the-goddess-work-is-done-the-woman-s-still-remains/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [The delicate thought, that cannot find expression, For ruder speech too fair, That, like thy petals, trembles in possession, And scatters on the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/the-delicate-thought-that-cannot-find-expression-for-ruder-speech-too/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [“There was, I think, a prevailing impression common to the provincial mind, that his misfortune was the result of the defective moral quality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/there-was-i-think-a-prevailing-impression-common-to-the-provincial/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Your voices break and falter in the darkness, Break, falter, and are still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/your-voices-break-and-falter-in-the-darkness-break-falter-and-are/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Each lost day has its patron saint!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/each-lost-day-has-its-patron-saint/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [We begin to die as soon as we are born, and the end is linked to the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/we-begin-to-die-as-soon-as-we-are-born-and-the-end-is-linked-to-the/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [When folks find I ain't afeard to speak my mind on their affairs, they kinder guess I'm tellin' the truth about my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/when-folks-find-i-ain-t-afeard-to-speak-my-mind-on-their-affairs-they/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [It would seem evident, therefore, that the secret of the American short story was the treatment of characteristic American life, with absolute knowledge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/it-would-seem-evident-therefore-that-the-secret-of-the-american-short/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [Never a tear bedims the eye that time and patience will not dry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/never-a-tear-bedims-the-eye-that-time-and-patience-will-not-dry/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) [Explore all 38 Bret Harte quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bret Harte" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a-bird-in-the-bush-may-sing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a-bird-in-the-bush-may-sing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7de/bret-harte-16965_bird_a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a_1675279.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.” — Bret Harte", "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": "Bret Harte", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A bird in the hand is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a-bird-in-the-bush-may-sing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/a-bird-in-the-hand-is-a-certainty-but-a-bird-in-the-bush-may-sing/#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 } } ] } ```