--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To shoot at crows is powder flung away." description: "\"To shoot at crows is powder flung away.\" — John Gay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png" --- # To shoot at crows is powder flung away. ![“To shoot at crows is powder flung away.” quote by John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png) > “To shoot at crows is powder flung away.” [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shooting crows wastes effort; aim at meaningful targets. **In simple terms:** Wasting effort on trivial goals. Key Takeaway Choose purposeful aims. Themes productivity focus strategy Mood critical inspirational Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - business projects - personal goals - creative pursuits Key Concepts misdirected effort goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What goals are truly valuable? - How can you avoid wasted effort? A Different Perspective Identifying true priorities can be hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Crows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crows/) ## Related quotes > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [I am in love with Counting Crows. It is so manly and American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-am-in-love-with-counting-crows-it-is-so-manly-and-american/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [“Crows played a significant Role during my Psychosis, they reminded me of the Apocalypse – even nowadays, their cawing reminds me to stay humble.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sino-melo/crows-played-a-significant-role-during-my-psychosis-they-reminded-me/) [Sino Melo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sino-melo/) > [(after listening to people gripe and complain just smile and remember) Crows can’t hang with eagles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/after-listening-to-people-gripe-and-complain-just-smile-and-remember/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [Crows don’t take from you,” Dean said. “They give your soul wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-kittredge/crows-don-t-take-from-you-dean-said-they-give-your-soul-wings/) [Caitlin Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-kittredge/) > [“Somewhere off to my left, a little voice chirped: The redhead is smart. We can help. In a nearby tree sat a murder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/somewhere-off-to-my-left-a-little-voice-chirped-the-redhead-is-smart/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [The world is a nest of crows; some caw in praise; some caw in derision. But men should be above the reach of praise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/the-world-is-a-nest-of-crows-some-caw-in-praise-some-caw-in-derision/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [But the positive thoughts would give way to negative thoughts, and the negative thoughts seemed to swoop into her mind the way a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/but-the-positive-thoughts-would-give-way-to-negative-thoughts-and-the/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Our minds are like crows. They pick up everything that glitters, no matter how uncomfortable our nests get with all that metal in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/our-minds-are-like-crows-they-pick-up-everything-that-glitters-no/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Crows appear in many of my new unpublished poems. In these walks, they take on a symbolic life apart from their irritating, undeniable, interruptive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/crows-appear-in-many-of-my-new-unpublished-poems-in-these-walks-they/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [If you want to fly with the eagles you can't hang out with the crows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-lesnar/if-you-want-to-fly-with-the-eagles-you-can-t-hang-out-with-the-crows/) [Brock Lesnar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-lesnar/) > [Paraphrased: When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples began planning a splendid funeral. However some disciples expressed concern that given a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/paraphrased-when-chuang-tzu-was-about-to-die-his-disciples-began/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [“They were halfway across the road when a birdcall tugged her back, pulling at some strange, secret part of her. A crow, she thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emilia-hart/they-were-halfway-across-the-road-when-a-birdcall-tugged-her-back/) [Emilia Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emilia-hart/) > [You know, all is development. The principle is perpetually going on. First, there was nothing, then there was something; then-I forget the next-I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/you-know-all-is-development-the-principle-is-perpetually-going-on/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [When they're born outside, crows come and pluck their eyes out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/when-they-re-born-outside-crows-come-and-pluck-their-eyes-out/) [David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/) ## More by John Gay > [On the choice of friends, Our good or evil name depends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/on-the-choice-of-friends-our-good-or-evil-name-depends/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [What frenzy dictates, jealousy believes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/what-frenzy-dictates-jealousy-believes/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Whence is thy learning? Hath thy toil O'er books consumed the midnight oil?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/whence-is-thy-learning-hath-thy-toil-o-er-books-consumed-the-midnight/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [To cheat a man is nothing; but the woman must have fine parts, indeed, who cheats a woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/to-cheat-a-man-is-nothing-but-the-woman-must-have-fine-parts-indeed/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/follow-love-and-it-will-flee-flee-love-and-it-will-follow-thee/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Fair is the kingcup that in meadow blows, Fair is the daisy that beside her grows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/fair-is-the-kingcup-that-in-meadow-blows-fair-is-the-daisy-that/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > ['T is woman that seduces all mankind; By her we first were taught the wheedling arts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/t-is-woman-that-seduces-all-mankind-by-her-we-first-were-taught-the/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Fill it up. I take as large draughts of liquor as I did of love. I hate a flincher in either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/fill-it-up-i-take-as-large-draughts-of-liquor-as-i-did-of-love-i-hate/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [A rich rogue nowadays is fit company for any gentleman; and the world, my dear, hath not such a contempt for roguery as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/a-rich-rogue-nowadays-is-fit-company-for-any-gentleman-and-the-world/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Let firm, well hammer'd soles protect thy feet Through freezing snows, and rains, and soaking sleet; Should the big last extend the shoe too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/let-firm-well-hammer-d-soles-protect-thy-feet-through-freezing-snows/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [A Wolf eats sheep but now and then; Ten thousands are devour'd by men. An open foe may prove a curse, but a pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/a-wolf-eats-sheep-but-now-and-then-ten-thousands-are-devour-d-by-men/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/a-man-is-always-afraid-of-a-woman-that-loves-him-too-much/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [ \[Gulliver was soon being read\] "from the cabinet council to the nursery". ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/gulliver-was-soon-being-read-from-the-cabinet-council-to-the-nursery/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Sure men were born to lie, and women to believe them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/sure-men-were-born-to-lie-and-women-to-believe-them/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Exercise thy lasting youth defends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/exercise-thy-lasting-youth-defends/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) [Explore all 115 John Gay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) ## 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": "To shoot at crows is powder flung away.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Gay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/74b/john-gay-4141_bird_to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away-2_2951515.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To shoot at crows is powder flung away.” — John Gay", "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": "John Gay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To shoot at crows is powder...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/to-shoot-at-crows-is-powder-flung-away/#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 } } ] } ```