--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Consider the birds. Be wise as serpents." description: "\"Consider the birds. Be wise as serpents.\" — Hilda Doolittle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/818/hilda-doolittle-7061_wisdom_consider-the-birds-be-wise-as-serpents-9_982609.jpg" --- # Consider the birds. Be wise as serpents. ![“Consider the birds. Be wise as serpents.” quote by Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/818/hilda-doolittle-7061_wisdom_consider-the-birds-be-wise-as-serpents-9_982609.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/818/hilda-doolittle-7061_wisdom_consider-the-birds-be-wise-as-serpents-9_982609.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/818/hilda-doolittle-7061_wisdom_consider-the-birds-be-wise-as-serpents-9_982609.jpg) > “Consider the birds. Be wise as serpents.” [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observe nature’s wisdom and adopt both caution and intelligence. **In simple terms:** Be wise and cautious. Key Takeaway Balance wisdom with caution. Themes wisdom caution nature Mood contemplative inspirational Type poetic advice When to use this quote - decision making - risk assessment - creative inspiration Key Concepts philosophy ecology Questions to Reflect On - How can you apply serpentents wisdom in daily life? - When is caution more valuable than boldness? A Different Perspective Over‑caution can hinder action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [It is written, 'Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves' (Mt. 10:16). Being like serpents means not ignoring the attacks and wiles of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syncletica-of-alexandria/it-is-written-be-wise-as-serpents-and-innocent-as-doves-mt-10-16/) Syncletica of Alexandria > [“You are sheep among wolves; be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/you-are-sheep-among-wolves-be-wise-as-serpents-yet-innocent-as-doves/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“Be ye therefore as wise as the serpents and as harmless as the doves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/be-ye-therefore-as-wise-as-the-serpents-and-as-harmless-as-the-doves/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [At one point, I had close to 100 birds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-toriyama/at-one-point-i-had-close-to-100-birds/) [Akira Toriyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-toriyama/) > [“I like the idea of songs sung by those without big voices. You know, small birdsongs that rise above the noise of the city.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyo-maclear/i-like-the-idea-of-songs-sung-by-those-without-big-voices-you-know/) [Kyo Maclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyo-maclear/) > [“The day we decide to drop the flimsy makeshift scenarios in our cluttered mind and eschew the ‘alleluias’ of self-importance, life can become genuine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/the-day-we-decide-to-drop-the-flimsy-makeshift-scenarios-in-our/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“It is as simple as that. Birds fly because they have wings and so when you can’t grow the wings, you can’t be called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/it-is-as-simple-as-that-birds-fly-because-they-have-wings-and-so-when/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [I'm terrified of heights, but I think there's something really beautiful about birds and soaring, having a bird's-eye view of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-booth/i-m-terrified-of-heights-but-i-think-there-s-something-really/) [Lindy Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-booth/) > [“If you see birds flying high in the sky, it means clear weather. However, if you see a lot of birds roosting on power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-mckay/if-you-see-birds-flying-high-in-the-sky-it-means-clear-weather/) [Brett McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-mckay/) > [You would not think that birds who have no brain at all could become so friendly. I swear some of them are more intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-aston/you-would-not-think-that-birds-who-have-no-brain-at-all-could-become/) [Elizabeth Aston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-aston/) > [“Birds fly with their wings, people with their happiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/birds-fly-with-their-wings-people-with-their-happiness/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Birds are an ecological litmus paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-tory-peterson/birds-are-an-ecological-litmus-paper/) [Roger Tory Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-tory-peterson/) > [I don't like small birds. They hop around so merrily outside my window, looking so innocent. but I know that secretly, they're watching my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-like-small-birds-they-hop-around-so-merrily-outside-my-window/) [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/) > [“In East Sussex, let us say, an old farm sleeps in sun-dapple, its oast-house with its cowls echoing the distant steeple of SS Andrew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-m-w-wemyss/in-east-sussex-let-us-say-an-old-farm-sleeps-in-sun-dapple-its-oast/) [G.M.W. Wemyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-m-w-wemyss/) ## More by Hilda Doolittle > [“Sheltered Garden" I have had enough. I gasp for breath. Every way ends, every road, every foot-path leads at last to the hill-crest-- then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/sheltered-garden-i-have-had-enough-i-gasp-for-breath-every-way-ends/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [That way of inspiration is always open, and open to everyone; it acts as go-between, interpreter, it explains symbols of the past in to-day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/that-way-of-inspiration-is-always-open-and-open-to-everyone-it-acts/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Could beauty be beaten out, O youth the cities have sent to strike at each other's strength, it is you who have kept her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/could-beauty-be-beaten-out-o-youth-the-cities-have-sent-to-strike-at/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The Christos-image is most difficult to disentangle from its art-craft junk-shop paint-and-plaster medieval jumble of pain-worship and death-symbol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-christos-image-is-most-difficult-to-disentangle-from-its-art/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [When you would think, "what was the use of it," you'll remember something you can't grasp and you'll wonder what it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/when-you-would-think-what-was-the-use-of-it-you-ll-remember-something/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The quivering of Psyche's butterflies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-quivering-of-psyche-s-butterflies/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Thoth, Hermes, the stylus, the palette, the pen, the quill endure, though our books are a floor of smouldering ash under our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/thoth-hermes-the-stylus-the-palette-the-pen-the-quill-endure-though/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [My eye-balls are glass, my limbs marble, my face fixed in its marble mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/my-eye-balls-are-glass-my-limbs-marble-my-face-fixed-in-its-marble/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The things I have are nameless, old and true; they may not be named; few may live and know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-things-i-have-are-nameless-old-and-true-they-may-not-be-named-few/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Soft are the hands of Love, but what soft hands clutched at the thorny ground, scratched like a small white ferret or foraging whippet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/soft-are-the-hands-of-love-but-what-soft-hands-clutched-at-the-thorny/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The elixir of life, the philosopher's stone is yours if you surrender sterile logic, trivial reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-elixir-of-life-the-philosopher-s-stone-is-yours-if-you-surrender/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Alas, day, you brought light, You trailed splendour You showed us god: I salute you, most precious one, But I go to a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/alas-day-you-brought-light-you-trailed-splendour-you-showed-us-god-i/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Let Love step down, open the clasped hands, forfeit the thorny crown, retrieve the garment that was whole, body and spirit one, spirit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/let-love-step-down-open-the-clasped-hands-forfeit-the-thorny-crown/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [(Those women whom the distaff no longer claims nor spun cloth) driven made, mad, mad by Bacchus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/those-women-whom-the-distaff-no-longer-claims-nor-spun-cloth-driven/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) [Explore all 95 Hilda Doolittle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## More Birds quotes > [“In East Sussex, let us say, an old farm sleeps in sun-dapple, its oast-house with its cowls echoing the distant steeple of SS Andrew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-m-w-wemyss/in-east-sussex-let-us-say-an-old-farm-sleeps-in-sun-dapple-its-oast/) [G.M.W. Wemyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-m-w-wemyss/) > [“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/) > [I don't like small birds. They hop around so merrily outside my window, looking so innocent. but I know that secretly, they're watching my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-like-small-birds-they-hop-around-so-merrily-outside-my-window/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Birds are an ecological litmus paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-tory-peterson/birds-are-an-ecological-litmus-paper/) [Roger Tory Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-tory-peterson/) > [“Birds fly with their wings, people with their happiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/birds-fly-with-their-wings-people-with-their-happiness/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [You would not think that birds who have no brain at all could become so friendly. I swear some of them are more intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-aston/you-would-not-think-that-birds-who-have-no-brain-at-all-could-become/) [Elizabeth Aston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-aston/) > [“If you see birds flying high in the sky, it means clear weather. However, if you see a lot of birds roosting on power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-mckay/if-you-see-birds-flying-high-in-the-sky-it-means-clear-weather/) [Brett McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-mckay/) > [I'm terrified of heights, but I think there's something really beautiful about birds and soaring, having a bird's-eye view of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-booth/i-m-terrified-of-heights-but-i-think-there-s-something-really/) [Lindy Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-booth/) > [“It is as simple as that. Birds fly because they have wings and so when you can’t grow the wings, you can’t be called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/it-is-as-simple-as-that-birds-fly-because-they-have-wings-and-so-when/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“The day we decide to drop the flimsy makeshift scenarios in our cluttered mind and eschew the ‘alleluias’ of self-importance, life can become genuine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/the-day-we-decide-to-drop-the-flimsy-makeshift-scenarios-in-our/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [“I like the idea of songs sung by those without big voices. You know, small birdsongs that rise above the noise of the city.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyo-maclear/i-like-the-idea-of-songs-sung-by-those-without-big-voices-you-know/) [Kyo Maclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyo-maclear/) > [At one point, I had close to 100 birds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akira-toriyama/at-one-point-i-had-close-to-100-birds/) [Akira Toriyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akira-toriyama/) > [How can you expect the birds to sing when their groves are cut down?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/how-can-you-expect-the-birds-to-sing-when-their-groves-are-cut-down/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“If birds can fend for themselves, it means there’s hope for our tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdulazeez-henry-musa/if-birds-can-fend-for-themselves-it-means-there-s-hope-for-our/) [Abdulazeez Henry Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdulazeez-henry-musa/) > [Birds Fly in the Sky, because they don't know how to Cry! They know just one thing, to Sing!-RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/birds-fly-in-the-sky-because-they-don-t-know-how-to-cry-they-know/) RVM [Browse all 653 Birds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Consider the birds. 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