--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mountains are in labour, the birth…" description: "\"The mountains are in labour, the birth will be an absurd little mouse.\" — Horace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg" --- # The mountains are in labour, the birth will be an absurd… ![“The mountains are in labour, the birth will be an absurd little mouse.” quote by Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg) > “The mountains are in labour, the birth will be an absurd little mouse.” [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great events often begin with modest, seemingly insignificant signs. **In simple terms:** Big things start small. Key Takeaway Pay attention to subtle beginnings. Themes growth patience humility anticipation Mood hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career development - personal projects - social movements Key Concepts incremental change foreshadowing Questions to Reflect On - What small sign is you overlooking? - How can you nurture a modest start? A Different Perspective Small signs can be misleading without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Birth Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth-absurd-1894813/) [Labour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour/) [Labour Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labour-birth-1894814/) [Little Mouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-mouse-1378898/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Mice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mice/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Mountains Labour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountains-labour-1721366/) ## Related quotes > [Mountains will go into labour, and a silly little mouse will be born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/mountains-will-go-into-labour-and-a-silly-little-mouse-will-be-born/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. (Mountains are in labour, a ridiculous mouse will be born)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/parturient-montes-nascetur-ridiculus-mus-mountains-are-in-labour-a/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“The birthing journey requires us as women to get back to a sense of life basics where our connection to intuition and instinct are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maha-al-musa/the-birthing-journey-requires-us-as-women-to-get-back-to-a-sense-of/) [Maha Al Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maha-al-musa/) > [The laws of nature may be operative up to a certain limit, beyond which they turn against themselves to give birth to the absurd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-laws-of-nature-may-be-operative-up-to-a-certain-limit-beyond/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [A wretched disheartening result. And a little mouse shall lead them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-dalton/a-wretched-disheartening-result-and-a-little-mouse-shall-lead-them/) [Hugh Dalton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-dalton/) > [“When the little mouse, which was loved as none other was in the mouse-world, got into a trap one night and with a shrill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/when-the-little-mouse-which-was-loved-as-none-other-was-in-the-mouse/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Little mouse, you were so quick, so bright, so sweet, so full of life. And you still are everything you were then. None of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/little-mouse-you-were-so-quick-so-bright-so-sweet-so-full-of-life-and/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“One is always on time if time doesn't matter to them, little mouse”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-ganci/one-is-always-on-time-if-time-doesn-t-matter-to-them-little-mouse/) [Joanne Ganci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-ganci/) > [“You are a tasty little mouse I think, Lizzy Walters. I’ve yet to decide if I shall eat you or let you go, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-james/you-are-a-tasty-little-mouse-i-think-lizzy-walters-i-ve-yet-to-decide/) [Judith James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-james/) > [This dapper little mouse that wore such cute clothes and said such interesting things, yeah. I thought it was a great idea to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geena-davis/this-dapper-little-mouse-that-wore-such-cute-clothes-and-said-such/) [Geena Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geena-davis/) > [But little Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burns/but-little-mouse-you-are-not-alone-in-proving-foresight-may-be-vain/) [Robert Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burns/) > [Consider the little mouse, how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts its life to one hole only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/consider-the-little-mouse-how-sagacious-an-animal-it-is-which-never/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Little mouse," a voice said through the keyhole. "Don't you know the more you wriggle, the greater the cat's delight?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/little-mouse-a-voice-said-through-the-keyhole-don-t-you-know-the-more/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [I used to have this little mouse. I buy birds from the pet store and I let them go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziggy-marley/i-used-to-have-this-little-mouse-i-buy-birds-from-the-pet-store-and-i/) [Ziggy Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziggy-marley/) > [What will this boaster produce worthy of this mouthing? The mountains are in labor; a ridiculous mouse will be born. \[Lat., Quid dignum tanto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/what-will-this-boaster-produce-worthy-of-this-mouthing-the-mountains/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More by Horace > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/a-word-once-sent-abroad-flies-irrevocably/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Natales grate numeras? (Do you count your birthdays with gratitude?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/natales-grate-numeras-do-you-count-your-birthdays-with-gratitude/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ In a moment comes either death or joyful victory. \[Lat., Horae Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/in-a-moment-comes-either-death-or-joyful-victory-lat-horae-momento/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - It is a sweet and becoming thing to die for ones country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/dulce-et-decorum-est-pro-patria-mori-it-is-a-sweet-and-becoming-thing/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ Neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' shelves permit ordinary poets to exist. \[Lat., Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/neither-men-nor-gods-nor-booksellers-shelves-permit-ordinary-poets-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/avoid-inquisitive-persons-for-they-are-sure-to-be-gossips-their-ears/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/you-may-drive-out-nature-with-a-pitchfork-yet-she-still-will-hurry/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [There is a proper measure in all things, certain limits beyond which and short of which right is not to be found. Who so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-is-a-proper-measure-in-all-things-certain-limits-beyond-which/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Never despair while under the guidance and auspices of Teucer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/never-despair-while-under-the-guidance-and-auspices-of-teucer/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) [Explore all 1,000 Horace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The mountains are in labour, the birth will be an absurd little mouse.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-will-be-an-absurd-little-mouse/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-will-be-an-absurd-little-mouse/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/701/horace-172_absurd_the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-wi_974546.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The mountains are in labour, the birth will be an absurd little mouse.” — Horace", "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": "Horace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The mountains are in labour, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-will-be-an-absurd-little-mouse/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-mountains-are-in-labour-the-birth-will-be-an-absurd-little-mouse/#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 } } ] } ```