--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are some optimists who search…" description: "\"There are some optimists who search eagerly for the skunk cabbage which in February sometimes pushes itself up through the ice, and who call it a sign ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b1/joseph-wood-krutch-7377_cabbage_there-are-some-optimists-who-search-eage_905387.jpg" --- # There are some optimists who search eagerly for the skunk… ![“There are some optimists who search eagerly for the skunk cabbage which in February sometimes pushes itself up through the ice, and who call it a sign of spring. I wish that I could feel that way about it, but I do not. The truth of the matter, to me, is simply that skunk cabbage blooms in the…” quote by Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b1/joseph-wood-krutch-7377_cabbage_there-are-some-optimists-who-search-eage_905387.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b1/joseph-wood-krutch-7377_cabbage_there-are-some-optimists-who-search-eage_905387.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b1/joseph-wood-krutch-7377_cabbage_there-are-some-optimists-who-search-eage_905387.jpg) > “There are some optimists who search eagerly for the skunk cabbage which in February sometimes pushes itself up through the ice, and who call it a sign of spring. I wish that I could feel that way about it, but I do not. The truth of the matter, to me, is simply that skunk cabbage blooms in the winter time.” [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Optimists cling to hopeful signs even when nature contradicts them; the speaker admits lacking that optimism. **In simple terms:** Optimists see hopeful signs; speaker does not. Key Takeaway Accept reality without forced optimism. Themes optimism nature perception reality hope Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health - environmental observation Key Concepts cognitive bias psychology seasonal cycles Questions to Reflect On - Do you cling to hopeful symbols that contradict facts? - How can you balance hope with realism? A Different Perspective Optimism may ignore factual reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blooms Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blooms-winter-1280408/) [Cabbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabbage/) [Cabbage Blooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabbage-blooms-1280407/) [Cabbage February](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabbage-february-1280405/) [February](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/february/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Optimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist/) [Skunk Cabbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skunk-cabbage-1280406/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Winter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter/) [Winter time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winter-time/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [Old age likes to dwell in the recollections of the past, and, mistaking, the speedy march of years, often is inclined to take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-kossuth/old-age-likes-to-dwell-in-the-recollections-of-the-past-and-mistaking/) [Lajos Kossuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-kossuth/) > [I love hats and winter is the perfect time for them. I love winter time fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-ferguson/i-love-hats-and-winter-is-the-perfect-time-for-them-i-love-winter/) [Rebecca Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-ferguson/) > [What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crowfoot/what-is-life-it-is-the-flash-of-a-firefly-in-the-night-it-is-the-2/) [Crowfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crowfoot/) > [During the season, it's a lot of maintaining your fitness, so in the winter time is when the main work is done. During the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valtteri-bottas/during-the-season-it-s-a-lot-of-maintaining-your-fitness-so-in-the/) [Valtteri Bottas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valtteri-bottas/) > [Like the seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/like-the-seeds-dreaming-beneath-the-snow-your-heart-dreams-of-spring/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [When you speak it sounds like music to my ears you love is like candy you eyes sparkle like the stars your body is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-speak-it-sounds-like-music-to-my-ears-you-love-is-like-candy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don’t know of a better argument in favor of farming with horses than trying to start an old tractor in the winter time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-logsdon/i-don-t-know-of-a-better-argument-in-favor-of-farming-with-horses/) [Gene Logsdon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-logsdon/) > [Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/winter-is-the-time-for-comfort-for-good-food-and-warmth-for-the-touch/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [I always love the smell of a bat and a glove, or a hockey puck in the winter time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiny-tim/i-always-love-the-smell-of-a-bat-and-a-glove-or-a-hockey-puck-in-the/) [Tiny Tim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiny-tim/) > [The restaurants close here in Salzburg. They don't really have a nightlife in the winter time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecilia-bartoli/the-restaurants-close-here-in-salzburg-they-don-t-really-have-a/) [Cecilia Bartoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecilia-bartoli/) > [Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do - or because you can now and then permit yourself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-crawford/winter-is-the-time-of-promise-because-there-is-so-little-to-do-or/) [Stanley Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-crawford/) > [It's that time of the year... No, not winter. It's the time for exams, and in order to pass I have to keep on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramandeep-singh/it-s-that-time-of-the-year-no-not-winter-it-s-the-time-for-exams-and/) [Ramandeep Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramandeep-singh/) > [You are warmer then the summer time, so I hold you threw the winter time and the love inside your eyes can turn a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-songz/you-are-warmer-then-the-summer-time-so-i-hold-you-threw-the-winter/) [Trey Songz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-songz/) > [Only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-stout/only-in-the-winter-in-the-country-can-you-have-longer-quiet-stretches/) [Ruth Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-stout/) > [Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/antisthenes-says-that-in-a-certain-faraway-land-the-cold-is-so/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) ## More by Joseph Wood Krutch > [In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/in-history-as-it-comes-to-be-written-there-is-usually-some-spirit-of/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Both the cockroach and the bird would get along very well without us, although the cockroach would miss us most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/both-the-cockroach-and-the-bird-would-get-along-very-well-without-us/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [The most important part of our lives-our sensations, emotions, desires, and aspirations-takes place in a universe of illusions which science can attenuate or destroy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/the-most-important-part-of-our-lives-our-sensations-emotions-desires/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [If we are deprived of hope as well as fear, we are compensated by being given an almost endless patience for enduring or simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/if-we-are-deprived-of-hope-as-well-as-fear-we-are-compensated-by/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [August creates as she slumbers, replete and satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/august-creates-as-she-slumbers-replete-and-satisfied/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many different ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/cats-are-rather-delicate-creatures-and-they-are-subject-to-a-good/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [The snow itself is lonely or, if you prefer, self-sufficient. There is no other time when the whole world seems composed of one thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/the-snow-itself-is-lonely-or-if-you-prefer-self-sufficient-there-is/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Electronic calculators can solve problems which the man who made them cannot solve; but no government subsidised commission of engineers and physicists could create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/electronic-calculators-can-solve-problems-which-the-man-who-made-them/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [The rare moment is not the moment when there is something worth looking at, but the moment when we are capable of seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/the-rare-moment-is-not-the-moment-when-there-is-something-worth/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/cats-are-rather-delicate-creatures-and-they-are-subject-to-a-good-2/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [We have not merely escaped from something but into something... We have joined the greatest of all communities, which is not that of man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/we-have-not-merely-escaped-from-something-but-into-something-we-have/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [How anyone can profess to find animal life interesting and yet take delight in reducing the wonder of any animal to a bloody mass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/how-anyone-can-profess-to-find-animal-life-interesting-and-yet-take/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [True tragedy may be defined as a dramatic work in which the outward failure of the principal personage is compensated for by the dignity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/true-tragedy-may-be-defined-as-a-dramatic-work-in-which-the-outward/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Man is, perhaps, no more prone to war than he used to be and no more inclined to commit other evil deeds. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/man-is-perhaps-no-more-prone-to-war-than-he-used-to-be-and-no-more/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [Few people have ever seriously wished to be exclusively rational. The good life which most desire is a life warmed by passions and touched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/few-people-have-ever-seriously-wished-to-be-exclusively-rational-the/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) [Explore all 92 Joseph Wood Krutch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) ## More Cabbage quotes > [Slugs crawl and crawl over our cabbages, like the world's slander over a good name. You may kill them, it is true; but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-william-jerrold/slugs-crawl-and-crawl-over-our-cabbages-like-the-world-s-slander-over/) [Douglas William Jerrold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-william-jerrold/) > [In the first place, lawyers better remember they are human beings, and a human being who hasn't his periods of doubts and distresses and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/in-the-first-place-lawyers-better-remember-they-are-human-beings-and/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [He who has plenty of pepper will pepper his cabbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/he-who-has-plenty-of-pepper-will-pepper-his-cabbage/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [He tapped my chest. 'Happy is here.' He tapped his own chest. 'Here.' I looked down past my chin. 'Inside?' 'Inside.' It was getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/he-tapped-my-chest-happy-is-here-he-tapped-his-own-chest-here-i/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [I'll show you how the cows eat cabbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ll-show-you-how-the-cows-eat-cabbage/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I don't like him." Looking from Kale to Alex, Ginger said, "I don't like cabbage. Do you see me taking on the produce section…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/i-don-t-like-him-looking-from-kale-to-alex-ginger-said-i-don-t-like/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [I want death to find me planting my cabbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-want-death-to-find-me-planting-my-cabbage/) [Michel De Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The cabbage surpasses all other vegetables. If, at a banquet, you wish to dine a lot and enjoy your dinner, then eat as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cato-the-younger/the-cabbage-surpasses-all-other-vegetables-if-at-a-banquet-you-wish/) [Cato the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cato-the-younger/) > [I was put off by people at school - my cabbage wasn't as good as other people's, you know, so that put me off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-mcgough/i-was-put-off-by-people-at-school-my-cabbage-wasn-t-as-good-as-other/) [Roger McGough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-mcgough/) > [I like to get where the cabbage is cooking and catch the scents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-smith/i-like-to-get-where-the-cabbage-is-cooking-and-catch-the-scents/) [Red Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-smith/) > [Some like carrots, others like cabbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/some-like-carrots-others-like-cabbage/) [Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/) > [And still I look for the men who will dare to be roses of England wild roses of England men who are wild roses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-still-i-look-for-the-men-who-will-dare-to-be-roses-of-england/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [It is clear that men accept an immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure, but only because they expect a greater pleasure in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/it-is-clear-that-men-accept-an-immediate-pain-rather-than-an/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The wildest dreams of wild men, even, are not the less true, though they may not recommend themselves to the sense which is most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-wildest-dreams-of-wild-men-even-are-not-the-less-true-though-they/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/he-is-useless-on-top-of-the-ground-he-ought-to-be-under-it-inspiring/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Browse all 128 Cabbage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cabbage/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are some optimists who search eagerly for the skunk cabbage which in February sometimes pushes itself up through the ice, and who call it a sign of spring. 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