--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a legend about a bird which…" description: "\"“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it le..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/076/colleen-mccullough-7229_bird_there-is-a-legend-about-a-bird-which-sin_2458759.jpg" --- # There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in… ![“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself…” quote by Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/076/colleen-mccullough-7229_bird_there-is-a-legend-about-a-bird-which-sin_2458759.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/076/colleen-mccullough-7229_bird_there-is-a-legend-about-a-bird-which-sin_2458759.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/076/colleen-mccullough-7229_bird_there-is-a-legend-about-a-bird-which-sin_2458759.jpg) > ““There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend.”” [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A creature sacrifices everything for a single, transcendent expression, showing that true greatness often demands profound suffering. **In simple terms:** Greatness can require great pain. Key Takeaway Embrace sacrifice for lasting impact. Themes sacrifice artistry spirituality pain transcendence Mood melancholic inspirational solemn Type mythic philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - artistic performance - spiritual rituals - personal ambition - leadership challenges Key Concepts mythic symbolism existential cost creative expression Questions to Reflect On - What are you willing to endure for your art? - Is pain always necessary for greatness? A Different Perspective Such sacrifice may be unsustainable or glorify suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Bird Sings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird-sings-632809/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Lark Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lark-nightingale-632810/) [Legend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legend/) [Legend Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legend-bird-632808/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightingale/) [Nightingale Superlative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightingale-superlative-632811/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) ## Related quotes > [There's a story... a legend, about a bird that sings just once in its life. From the moment it leaves its nest, it searches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/there-s-a-story-a-legend-about-a-bird-that-sings-just-once-in-its/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“There is a legend about a bird which sings only once in it's life, more beautifully than any other creature on the face of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/there-is-a-legend-about-a-bird-which-sings-only-once-in-it-s-life/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“For the best is only brought at the cost of great pain. Or so says the legend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/for-the-best-is-only-brought-at-the-cost-of-great-pain-or-so-says-the/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [..the best is only bought at the cost of great pain...or so says the legend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-best-is-only-bought-at-the-cost-of-great-pain-or-so-says-the/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“But what after all is one night? A short space, especially when the darkness dims so soon, and so soon a bird sings, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/but-what-after-all-is-one-night-a-short-space-especially-when-the-3/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [the bird sings as if to say that delight is easy, for those who desire it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/the-bird-sings-as-if-to-say-that-delight-is-easy-for-those-who-desire/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, when his wing is bruised and his bosom sore; when he beats his bars and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laurence-dunbar/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-ah-me-when-his-wing-is-bruised-and/) [Paul Laurence Dunbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laurence-dunbar/) > [“ Caged Bird A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/caged-bird-a-free-bird-leaps-on-the-back-of-the-wind-and-floats/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I would like to paint the way a bird sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/i-would-like-to-paint-the-way-a-bird-sings/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [“I’ve figured it out, something that was never clear to me before–how all creation transposes itself out of the world deeper and deeper into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/i-ve-figured-it-out-something-that-was-never-clear-to-me-before-how/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“And while he waited in the castle court, The voice of Enid, Yniol's daughter, rang Clear through the open casement of the hall, Singing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-tennyson/and-while-he-waited-in-the-castle-court-the-voice-of-enid-yniol-s/) [Alfred Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-tennyson/) > [A bird sings, a child prattles, but it is the same hymn; hymn indistinct, inarticulate, but full of profound meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/a-bird-sings-a-child-prattles-but-it-is-the-same-hymn-hymn-indistinct/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The true self is not aware that it is a self. A bird, as it sings, sings itself. But not according to a picture.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-true-self-is-not-aware-that-it-is-a-self-a-bird-as-it-sings-sings/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [“A bird sings in the morning, an owl hoots at night...it's still a bloody bird.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-reed/a-bird-sings-in-the-morning-an-owl-hoots-at-night-it-s-still-a-bloody/) [Oliver Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-reed/) > [“A bird that sings too much will only lose its voice, but a bird that does not sing at all will lose its symphonies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/a-bird-that-sings-too-much-will-only-lose-its-voice-but-a-bird-that/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) ## More by Colleen McCullough > [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/) > [“For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/for-the-best-is-only-bought-at-the-cost-of-great-pain/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [My fictitious characters will take the bit between their teeth and gallop off and do something that I hadn't counted on. However, I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/my-fictitious-characters-will-take-the-bit-between-their-teeth-and/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [I want to know what they look like, their height, and colouring, physique and speech pattens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/i-want-to-know-what-they-look-like-their-height-and-colouring/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Old age is an ordeal, of flesh and mind. Of winding down, of slowing down, of dying cells. It's accepting the loss of physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/old-age-is-an-ordeal-of-flesh-and-mind-of-winding-down-of-slowing/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“But not we men. We weren't fit to be told. For so you women think, and hug your mysteries, getting your backs on us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/but-not-we-men-we-weren-t-fit-to-be-told-for-so-you-women-think-and/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [How frightening, that one person could mean so much, so many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/how-frightening-that-one-person-could-mean-so-much-so-many-things/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“It's not worth getting upset about, Mrs. Dominic. Down in the city they don't know how the other half lives, and they can afford…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/it-s-not-worth-getting-upset-about-mrs-dominic-down-in-the-city-they/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“You still think love can save us. It's more killing than hate. Hate is so clean, so simple. Like being in the ring. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/you-still-think-love-can-save-us-it-s-more-killing-than-hate-hate-is/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“You still think love can save us. It’s more killing than hate. Hate is so clean, so simple. Like being in the ring. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/you-still-think-love-can-save-us-it-s-more-killing-than-hate-hate-is-2/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [If you love people, they kill you. If you need people, they kill you. They do I tell you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/if-you-love-people-they-kill-you-if-you-need-people-they-kill-you/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“The law should not be a huge and weighty slab which falls upon a man and squashes him into a uniform shape, for men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-law-should-not-be-a-huge-and-weighty-slab-which-falls-upon-a-man/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [duty, the most indecent of all obsessions, was only another name for love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/duty-the-most-indecent-of-all-obsessions-was-only-another-name-for/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [There is no doubt that it is more difficult to read and more difficult to write but I still manage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/there-is-no-doubt-that-it-is-more-difficult-to-read-and-more/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [It's a woman's book but I think the men will read it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/it-s-a-woman-s-book-but-i-think-the-men-will-read-it-too/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) [Explore all 82 Colleen McCullough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. 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