--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have seen salmon swimming upstream to…" description: "\"I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out. Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f84/kathleen-moore-86841_bears_i-have-seen-salmon-swimming-upstream-to_1153108.jpg" --- # I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with… ![“I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out. Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines, I have seen salmon fighting to protect their nests. I have seen them push up creeks so small that they rammed themselves across the gravel. I…” quote by Kathleen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f84/kathleen-moore-86841_bears_i-have-seen-salmon-swimming-upstream-to_1153108.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f84/kathleen-moore-86841_bears_i-have-seen-salmon-swimming-upstream-to_1153108.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f84/kathleen-moore-86841_bears_i-have-seen-salmon-swimming-upstream-to_1153108.jpg) > “I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out. Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines, I have seen salmon fighting to protect their nests. I have seen them push up creeks so small that they rammed themselves across the gravel. I have seen them swim upstream with huge chunks bitten out of their bodies by bears. Salmon are incredibly driven to spawn. They will not give up. This gives me hope.” [Kathleen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote illustrates salmon's relentless drive to reproduce despite severe injury, symbolizing perseverance and hope in the face of adversity. **In simple terms:** Salmon keep trying to spawn even when badly hurt, showing determination. Key Takeaway Embrace determination despite obstacles. Themes perseverance nature hope determination Mood inspirational reflective Type nature philosophical motivational When to use this quote - wildlife observation - personal motivation - environmental education Key Concepts biological drive resilience instinct Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to persist when faced with hardship? - How can observing nature inspire personal resilience? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Bears Salmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears-salmon-3268483/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Chunks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chunks/) [Creeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeks/) [Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Environmental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall/) [Fighting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fighting/) [Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fish/) [Flesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flesh/) [Give me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give-me/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Gravel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravel/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Nests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nests/) [Not giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-giving-up/) [Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect/) [Push ups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/push-ups/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Salmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salmon/) [Salmon Fighting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salmon-fighting-3268484/) [Salmon Swimming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salmon-swimming-379063/) [Seen Salmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seen-salmon-3268485/) [Spawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spawn/) [Spine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spine/) [Swim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swim/) [Swimming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swimming/) [Swimming upstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swimming-upstream/) ## Related quotes > [You ain't supposed to get salmon when they're swimming upstream to spawn. But if you're hungry, you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-lynn/you-ain-t-supposed-to-get-salmon-when-they-re-swimming-upstream-to/) [Loretta Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-lynn/) > [“Great Brown Bear is walking with us, Salmon swimming upstream with us, as we stroll a city street.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/great-brown-bear-is-walking-with-us-salmon-swimming-upstream-with-us/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [“She was never so petty. She did not dabble with minnows at the surface when there were thirty-pound salmon swimming deeper down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wein/she-was-never-so-petty-she-did-not-dabble-with-minnows-at-the-surface/) [Elizabeth Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wein/) > [Two young salmon are swimming along one day. As they do, they are passed by a wiser, older fish coming the other way. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/two-young-salmon-are-swimming-along-one-day-as-they-do-they-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“God will not be tolerated. He instructs us to worship and fear Him. In our world, where hundreds of things distract us from God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/god-will-not-be-tolerated-he-instructs-us-to-worship-and-fear-him-in/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [Being an actor, you always feel like you're swimming upstream. People are going, 'No, they don't like you. They don't like the way you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-whitford/being-an-actor-you-always-feel-like-you-re-swimming-upstream-people/) [Bradley Whitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-whitford/) > [“We are swimming upstream against a great torrent of disorganization...In this, our main obligation is to establish arbitrary enclaves of order and system...It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/we-are-swimming-upstream-against-a-great-torrent-of-disorganization/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) > [Every person born into this world is a winner. When you think of the thousands of little sperm swimming upstream, and the first one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/every-person-born-into-this-world-is-a-winner-when-you-think-of-the/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [it’s like swimming upstream. Or … falling down a cliff and grabbing at branches, trying to invent the branches as I fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/it-s-like-swimming-upstream-or-falling-down-a-cliff-and-grabbing-at/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [“When I’m writing my own stuff, it’s like swimming upstream. Or … falling down a cliff and grabbing at branches, trying to invent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/when-i-m-writing-my-own-stuff-it-s-like-swimming-upstream-or-falling/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [As products of our highly competitive and specialized society, with all its ladders and ceilings, neat compartments, titles, and categories, to remain in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-hanson-lasater/as-products-of-our-highly-competitive-and-specialized-society-with/) [Judith Hanson Lasater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-hanson-lasater/) > [Obama does not believe in individual upward mobility. He would penalize it, tax it, regulate it, inveigh against it and disincentivize it. We will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-morris/obama-does-not-believe-in-individual-upward-mobility-he-would/) [Dick Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-morris/) > [“The professor leaned forward. “But there’s nothing more profound than creating something out of nothing.” Her lovely face turned fierce. “Think about it, Cath.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-professor-leaned-forward-but-there-s-nothing-more-profound-than/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [what i need is traveling minds talktouch kisses spittouch you swimming upstream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sanchez/what-i-need-is-traveling-minds-talktouch-kisses-spittouch-you/) [Sonia Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sanchez/) > [You shouldn't always feel like you're swimming upstream and fighting against the grain. With Robby, I think it was my first real lesson that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabby-windey/you-shouldn-t-always-feel-like-you-re-swimming-upstream-and-fighting/) [Gabby Windey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabby-windey/) ## More by Kathleen Moore > [I am beginning to understand that the stream the scientists are studying is not just a little creek. It's a river of energy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-moore/i-am-beginning-to-understand-that-the-stream-the-scientists-are/) [Kathleen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-moore/) > [For how smart we think we are, how facile with words, we don't have a word for this feeling, the feeling of being blessed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-moore/for-how-smart-we-think-we-are-how-facile-with-words-we-don-t-have-a/) [Kathleen Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-moore/) [Explore all 3 Kathleen Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-moore/) ## More Bears quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/) [George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/) > [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/) [St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/) [Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn even with their eyes pecked out. Even as they are dying, as their flesh is falling away from their spines, I have seen salmon fighting to protect their nests. I have seen them push up creeks so small that they rammed themselves across the gravel. 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