--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The bird that would soar above the level…" description: "\"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/kate-chopin-2624_bird_the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level_2929440.jpg" --- # The bird that would soar above the level plain of… ![“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.” quote by Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/kate-chopin-2624_bird_the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level_2929440.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/kate-chopin-2624_bird_the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level_2929440.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c4/kate-chopin-2624_bird_the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level_2929440.jpg) > “The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.” [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Challenging entrenched norms requires resilience; those who resist may be weakened and retreat. **In simple terms:** Breaking norms needs strong resolve; weak ones fall back. Key Takeaway Cultivate strength to defy tradition. Themes resilience tradition prejudice growth Mood determined reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - activism - career advancement - artistic innovation - personal relationships Key Concepts social conformity personal empowerment Questions to Reflect On - What traditions limit you? - How can you build supportive networks? A Different Perspective Strong wings alone may not guarantee success without support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Prejudice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudice/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) ## Related quotes > [“when I left her to-day, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/when-i-left-her-to-day-she-put-her-arms-around-me-and-felt-my/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [The bird that would soar above the plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-plain-of-tradition-and-prejudice/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level-plain-of-tradition-and/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [Tis but a base, ignoble mind That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/tis-but-a-base-ignoble-mind-that-mounts-no-higher-than-a-bird-can-soar/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Those who gave away their wings are sad not to see them fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/those-who-gave-away-their-wings-are-sad-not-to-see-them-fly/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Spread those strong wings of yours. Fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabel-pitcher/spread-those-strong-wings-of-yours-fly/) [Annabel Pitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabel-pitcher/) > [That's not how you're going to live, Bird Girl. Not on my account. Spread those strong wings of yours. Fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabel-pitcher/that-s-not-how-you-re-going-to-live-bird-girl-not-on-my-account/) [Annabel Pitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabel-pitcher/) > [A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled, down, down to the water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/a-bird-with-a-broken-wing-was-beating-the-air-above-reeling/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. 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Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-more-cheerful-now-in-the-fall-of-the-year-than-an-open-wood/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The dragon-fly is dancing,— Is on the water glancing, She flits about with nimble wing, The flickering, fluttering, restless thing. Besotted chafers all admire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-dragon-fly-is-dancing-is-on-the-water-glancing-she-flits-about/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [He was sailing over a boundless expanse of sea, with a blood-red sky above, and the angry waters, lashed into fury beneath, boiling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-was-sailing-over-a-boundless-expanse-of-sea-with-a-blood-red-sky/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [When I'm manic, I'm so awake and alert, that my eyelashes fluttering on the pillow sound like thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/when-i-m-manic-i-m-so-awake-and-alert-that-my-eyelashes-fluttering-on/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [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/) ## More by Kate Chopin > [“If ever a fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely their union.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/if-ever-a-fusion-of-two-human-beings-into-one-has-been-accomplished/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [She wanted something to happen - something, anything: she did not know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/she-wanted-something-to-happen-something-anything-she-did-not-know/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“His manner invited easy confidence. The preliminary stage of becoming acquainted was one which he always endeavored to ignore when a pretty and engaging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/his-manner-invited-easy-confidence-the-preliminary-stage-of-becoming/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The trouble is," sighed the Doctor, grasping her meaning intuitively, "that youth is given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-trouble-is-sighed-the-doctor-grasping-her-meaning-intuitively/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level-plain-of-tradition-and/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [It is greater than the stars - that moving procession of human energy; greater than the palpitating earth and the things growing thereon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/it-is-greater-than-the-stars-that-moving-procession-of-human-energy/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Some people are born with a vital and responsive energy. It not only enables them to keep abreast of the times; it qualifies them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/some-people-are-born-with-a-vital-and-responsive-energy-it-not-only/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The stillest hour of the night had come, the hour before dawn, when the world seems to hold its breath. The moon hung low,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-stillest-hour-of-the-night-had-come-the-hour-before-dawn-when-the/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [The city atmosphere certainly has improved her. Some way she doesn't seem like the same woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-city-atmosphere-certainly-has-improved-her-some-way-she-doesn-t/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Robert's going had some way taken the brightness, the color, the meaning out of everything. The conditions of her life were in no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/robert-s-going-had-some-way-taken-the-brightness-the-color-the/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/spring-days-and-summer-days-and-all-sorts-of-days-that-would-be-her/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Do you suppose a woman knows why she loves? Does she select?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/do-you-suppose-a-woman-knows-why-she-loves-does-she-select/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“I hope you won't completely forget me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-hope-you-won-t-completely-forget-me/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [I'm going to pull myself together for a while and think-try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-m-going-to-pull-myself-together-for-a-while-and-think-try-to/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) [Explore all 157 Kate Chopin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. 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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": "The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. 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