--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No lepidopterist's collection in the…" description: "\"No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single butterfly.\" — Isaac Bashevis Singer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg" --- # No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full… ![“No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single butterfly.” quote by Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg) > “No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single butterfly.” [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The beauty of a single butterfly cannot justify taking its life; true appreciation respects its existence. **In simple terms:** A butterfly's beauty doesn't justify killing it. Key Takeaway Value life over fleeting beauty. Themes ethics environment respect beauty Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - wildlife photography - environmental education - ethical decision making Key Concepts conservation value of life human impact Questions to Reflect On - What would you sacrifice for beauty? - How can we appreciate without harming? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Butterfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly/) [Collections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collections/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Iridescent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iridescent/) [Iridescent Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iridescent-wings-4009553/) [Lepidopterist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lepidopterist-4732744/) [Lepidopterist Collection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lepidopterist-collection-4732745/) [Single Butterfly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-butterfly-2491746/) [Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Everything that Mr Smallweed's grandfather ever put away in his mind was a grub at first, and is a grub at last. In all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/everything-that-mr-smallweed-s-grandfather-ever-put-away-in-his-mind/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Zembla is a site devoted to the life and works of author, translator, and lepidopterist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/zembla-is-a-site-devoted-to-the-life-and-works-of-author-translator/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“She knew intellectually that he was beautiful, the way the iridescent wings of a carrion fly would be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/she-knew-intellectually-that-he-was-beautiful-the-way-the-iridescent/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [“And this evening when I close my eyes against the darkness and think about her, I'll imagine iridescent wings fluttering, if only for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-stephan/and-this-evening-when-i-close-my-eyes-against-the-darkness-and-think/) [Nancy Stephan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-stephan/) > [The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-stewart/the-flapping-of-a-single-butterfly-s-wing-today-produces-a-tiny/) [Ian Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-stewart/) > [Africa - You can see a sunset and believe you have witnessed the Hand of God. You watch the slope lope of a lioness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/africa-you-can-see-a-sunset-and-believe-you-have-witnessed-the-hand/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [The pile of guts was a black blob of flies that buzzed like a saw. After a while these flies found Simon. Gorged, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/the-pile-of-guts-was-a-black-blob-of-flies-that-buzzed-like-a-saw/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [Gods should be iridescent, like the rainbow in the storm. Man creates a God in his own image, and the gods grow old along…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/gods-should-be-iridescent-like-the-rainbow-in-the-storm-man-creates-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I played with an idea, and grew willful; tossed it into the air; transformed it; let it escape and recaptured it; made it iridescent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-played-with-an-idea-and-grew-willful-tossed-it-into-the-air/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss…" He turned to me. "But every once in a while, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendelin-van-draanen/some-of-us-get-dipped-in-flat-some-in-satin-some-in-gloss-he-turned/) [Wendelin Van Draanen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendelin-van-draanen/) > [Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love, which linger and continue to uplift others long after your sharing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/your-acts-of-kindness-are-iridescent-wings-of-divine-love-which/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [It is human life. We are blown upon the world; we float buoyantly upon the summer air a little while, complacently showing off our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-human-life-we-are-blown-upon-the-world-we-float-buoyantly-upon/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“A unicorn stepped onto the path. Kiela gasped. Caz breathed, "Whoa." It was like moonlit water, so bright that tears sprang into Kiela's eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-beth-durst/a-unicorn-stepped-onto-the-path-kiela-gasped-caz-breathed-whoa-it-was/) [Sarah Beth Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-beth-durst/) > [I sit back on my bed cross-legged and find myself rubbing the smooth iridescent surface of the pearl back and forth against my lips.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-sit-back-on-my-bed-cross-legged-and-find-myself-rubbing-the-smooth/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“Every once in a while you find someone who is iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendelin-van-draanen/every-once-in-a-while-you-find-someone-who-is-iridescent-and-when-you/) [Wendelin Van Draanen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendelin-van-draanen/) ## More by Isaac Bashevis Singer > [Every body resisted (the slaughterer) in its own fashion, tried to escape and seemed to argue with the Creator to its last breath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/every-body-resisted-the-slaughterer-in-its-own-fashion-tried-to/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/people-often-say-that-humans-have-always-eaten-animals-as-if-this-is/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/as-long-as-people-will-shed-the-blood-of-innocent-creatures-there-can/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [There must be a way for man to attain all possible pleasures, all the powers and knowledge that nature can grant him, and still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/there-must-be-a-way-for-man-to-attain-all-possible-pleasures-all-the/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [What nature creates has eternity in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/what-nature-creates-has-eternity-in-it/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [“The rabbi thought he saw an expression of perplexity in the golem's eyes. It seemed to the rabbi that his eyes were asking, Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/the-rabbi-thought-he-saw-an-expression-of-perplexity-in-the-golem-s/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [“If you hear I'm dead, don't come to my funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/if-you-hear-i-m-dead-don-t-come-to-my-funeral/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/if-you-keep-saying-things-are-going-to-be-bad-you-have-a-good-chance/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Men want all women to lie down as whores and get up as virgins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/men-want-all-women-to-lie-down-as-whores-and-get-up-as-virgins/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise... Because this is how life is full of surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/a-story-to-me-means-a-plot-where-there-is-some-surprise-because-this/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/night-is-a-time-of-rigor-but-also-of-mercy-there-are-truths-which-one/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [No doubt the world is entirely an imaginary world, but it is only once removed from the true world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/no-doubt-the-world-is-entirely-an-imaginary-world-but-it-is-only-once/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [It is a general rule that when the grain of truth cannot be found, men will swallow great helpings of falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/it-is-a-general-rule-that-when-the-grain-of-truth-cannot-be-found-men/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behaviour towards creatures, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/as-often-as-herman-had-witnessed-the-slaughter-of-animals-and-fish-he/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Sometimes love is stronger than a man's convictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/sometimes-love-is-stronger-than-a-man-s-convictions/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) [Explore all 169 Isaac Bashevis Singer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) ## More Butterfly quotes > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [One day I decided I would like to put a record into my system. So I picked up a record that was lying on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/one-day-i-decided-i-would-like-to-put-a-record-into-my-system-so-i/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [A room full of words that are nearly the truth but not quite, each note fluttering off the steam of its rose like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/a-room-full-of-words-that-are-nearly-the-truth-but-not-quite-each/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) > [Do you remember how you felt at seventeen? I do and I don't (...) Imagine you came from outer space and someone showed you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/do-you-remember-how-you-felt-at-seventeen-i-do-and-i-don-t-imagine/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/kill-not-the-moth-nor-butterfly-for-the-last-judgement-draweth-nigh/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Farewell,' she said. 'I hope you hear many more songs' - which was the best way she could think of to say good-bye to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-beagle/farewell-she-said-i-hope-you-hear-many-more-songs-which-was-the-best/) [Peter S. Beagle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-s-beagle/) > [Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/know-thyself-a-maxim-as-pernicious-as-it-is-ugly-whoever-studies/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [When, within our souls and psyches we are made aware of a safe but insistent drum beat, repeated like butterfly wings in motion, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-meeker/when-within-our-souls-and-psyches-we-are-made-aware-of-a-safe-but/) [Mary Meeker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-meeker/) > [I just think about what I am doing on my side of the net, which requires focus. 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H. Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-davies/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-only-ask-to-be-free-the-butterflies-are-free-mankind-will-surely/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Browse all 1,033 Butterfly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single butterfly.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isaac Bashevis Singer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-entire-world-full-if-iridescent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Butterfly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-entire-world-full-if-iridescent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91b/isaac-bashevis-singer-2215_butterfly_no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-ent_2184351.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single…” — Isaac Bashevis Singer", "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": "Isaac Bashevis Singer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No lepidopterist's collection in the entire...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-entire-world-full-if-iridescent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/no-lepidopterist-s-collection-in-the-entire-world-full-if-iridescent/#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 } } ] } ```