--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her…" description: "\"“Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her tail.”\" — Mira Grant" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png" --- # Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her tail. ![“Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her tail.” quote by Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png) > ““Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her tail.”” [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Do not request impossible favors from those whose nature makes it unattainable. **In simple terms:** Ask realistic requests. Key Takeaway Respect boundaries and realistic expectations. Themes boundaries realism respect Mood cautious playful Type advice humorous When to use this quote - friendship - business negotiations - creative writing Key Concepts ethical limits interpersonal dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When is it appropriate to ask for unconventional help? - How do you assess feasibility? A Different Perspective May discourage seeking help even when feasible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ask Mermaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ask-mermaid-1400696/) [Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrow/) [Borrow Tail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrow-tail-1400697/) [Mermaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mermaid/) [Mermaid Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mermaid-borrow-1400695/) [Tail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tail/) ## Related quotes > [The tail of Emily Windsnap"everyone has a secret . mines alittle different. i figured out i am a mermaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-kessler/the-tail-of-emily-windsnap-everyone-has-a-secret-mines-alittle/) [Liz Kessler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-kessler/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“Do I think they found mermaids? Yes. Of course I do. And I think the mermaids ate them all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/do-i-think-they-found-mermaids-yes-of-course-i-do-and-i-think-the/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“What you have to understand about the mermaid legend is that it's universal. No matter where you go, the mermaids got there first. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/what-you-have-to-understand-about-the-mermaid-legend-is-that-it-s/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“Humanity destroys the things it loves. Something mysterious and unique enough to be the source of mermaid legends? We’re going to be all over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/humanity-destroys-the-things-it-loves-something-mysterious-and-unique/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“Being a mermaid might seem like all fun and games, but it was a job like any other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/being-a-mermaid-might-seem-like-all-fun-and-games-but-it-was-a-job/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“We’ve found—us as a collective troupe, and Teal and Jess individually—that people talk one way to a woman who doesn’t stand up because she’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/we-ve-found-us-as-a-collective-troupe-and-teal-and-jess-individually/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Speak of a wolf and you see his tail!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/speak-of-a-wolf-and-you-see-his-tail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The cat's tail was straying into her face again; she was forced to expel air in a most unbecoming fashion to avoid a mouthful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-duran/the-cat-s-tail-was-straying-into-her-face-again-she-was-forced-to/) [Meredith Duran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-duran/) > [When you're born with a tail, you learn to go through doors fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-wagner/when-you-re-born-with-a-tail-you-learn-to-go-through-doors-fast/) [Kurt Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-wagner/) > [“As Fama put it, “Life always has a fat tail.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-lowenstein/as-fama-put-it-life-always-has-a-fat-tail/) [Roger Lowenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-lowenstein/) > [Computing shows up in many different ways. You have computing that you wear, computing that you carry. What you think of as the traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dell/computing-shows-up-in-many-different-ways-you-have-computing-that-you/) [Michael Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dell/) > [“It’s a spur? Your males don’t have one?” “What’s it for?” “Nothing, I imagine. It’s just there, like my tail. Maybe it had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-dixon/it-s-a-spur-your-males-don-t-have-one-what-s-it-for-nothing-i-imagine/) [Ruby Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-dixon/) > [Keeping a woman to her word is like trying to hold an alligator by its tail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/keeping-a-woman-to-her-word-is-like-trying-to-hold-an-alligator-by/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [All through the kind of late '80s and '90s, every A&R record company man was saying, 'Now what we want is another record like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/all-through-the-kind-of-late-80s-and-90s-every-a-r-record-company-man/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) ## More by Mira Grant > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [And then everything was in the hands of gravity, which has never had much love for the terminally stupid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/and-then-everything-was-in-the-hands-of-gravity-which-has-never-had/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Rick stared at him. "Your brother is an alien." "Yeah, but he's a cute one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/rick-stared-at-him-your-brother-is-an-alien-yeah-but-he-s-a-cute-one/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [May posterity show mercy when it look back upon the work we do today. We did what we could with what we had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/may-posterity-show-mercy-when-it-look-back-upon-the-work-we-do-today/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Last guy I was interested in turned out to be an incestuous necrophiliac," she said. "So no, not currently dating, and definitely not doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/last-guy-i-was-interested-in-turned-out-to-be-an-incestuous/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [If you want to go foraging into the wilds of Canada without proper gear, you deserve what you get, even if that happens to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/if-you-want-to-go-foraging-into-the-wilds-of-canada-without-proper/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“Dr. Banks and his team could have learned a lot from watching The Secret of NIMH a few times. Maybe it would have convinced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/dr-banks-and-his-team-could-have-learned-a-lot-from-watching-the/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Things it is not polite to discuss at the dinner table: politics, religion, and the walking dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/things-it-is-not-polite-to-discuss-at-the-dinner-table-politics/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [If anything, global response to the Rising only confirmed something that many Australians had quietly believed for quite some time: If forced to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/if-anything-global-response-to-the-rising-only-confirmed-something/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [This is what I do know: A lie, however well-intended, can't prepare you for reality or change the world... To tell the truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/this-is-what-i-do-know-a-lie-however-well-intended-can-t-prepare-you/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“The Imagine Network has already agreed to pay the FAA fines for this one-time display of the unedited footage,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/the-imagine-network-has-already-agreed-to-pay-the-faa-fines-for-this/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Sometimes in the news, "luck" is just a matter of "capitalizing on someone else's pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/sometimes-in-the-news-luck-is-just-a-matter-of-capitalizing-on/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“She was sitting on the counter, holding a can of Coke. “Looking for this?” she asked. “My savior.” I walked toward her, making grabbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/she-was-sitting-on-the-counter-holding-a-can-of-coke-looking-for-this/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Every life has a watershed moment, an instant when you realize you're about to make a choice that will define everything else you ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/every-life-has-a-watershed-moment-an-instant-when-you-realize-you-re/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [...even saying good-bye isn’t enough. There’s always one more thing you should have had the time to say, or do, or ask. There’s always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/even-saying-good-bye-isn-t-enough-there-s-always-one-more-thing-you/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) [Explore all 284 Mira Grant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) ## More Borrow quotes > [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [Do not borrow the productions of other men's brains and pens and recite them as a lesson; but make the most of the talents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/do-not-borrow-the-productions-of-other-men-s-brains-and-pens-and/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/our-originality-shows-itself-most-strikingly-not-in-what-we-wholly/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/a-poet-ought-not-to-pick-nature-s-pocket-let-him-borrow-and-so-borrow/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“Dreams are the kind of things you can—when you need to—borrow and lend out,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/dreams-are-the-kind-of-things-you-can-when-you-need-to-borrow-and/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Experience is the only good 'tis safer to borrow than to buy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-panin/experience-is-the-only-good-tis-safer-to-borrow-than-to-buy/) [Ivan Panin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-panin/) > [Scientists have odious manners, except when you prop up their theory; then you can borrow money of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/scientists-have-odious-manners-except-when-you-prop-up-their-theory/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [U turned ur bck oN tomorw,c0z u 4gt Yestrday.i gave u my love in borrow.. bt u jst throw it away..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xresh-atish/u-turned-ur-bck-on-tomorw-c0z-u-4gt-yestrday-i-gave-u-my-love-in/) [Xresh Atish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xresh-atish/) > [“You can always borrow ideas; but unless you improve them very significantly, never behave as if they are your own!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/you-can-always-borrow-ideas-but-unless-you-improve-them-very/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [How strange! When people borrow money, they bow to you and when you collect it, you have to bow to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-strange-when-people-borrow-money-they-bow-to-you-and-when-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To be successful, keep looking tanned, live in an elegant building (even if you're in the cellar), be seen in smart restaurants (even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-successful-keep-looking-tanned-live-in-an-elegant-building-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“acquaintance, n.: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/acquaintance-n-a-person-whom-we-know-well-enough-to-borrow-from-but/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Borrow my umbrellas, my clothes, my money, and I will likely not think of them again. But borrow my books and I will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-mcginley/borrow-my-umbrellas-my-clothes-my-money-and-i-will-likely-not-think/) [Phyllis McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-mcginley/) > [The new American dream is one of responsibility. What is the bottom-line number that you're going to be able to pay back toward a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/the-new-american-dream-is-one-of-responsibility-what-is-the-bottom/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) [Browse all 268 Borrow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her tail.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mira Grant" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-her-tail/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Borrow" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-her-tail/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e0/mira-grant-1141_borrow_never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-he_1727719.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Never ask a mermaid if you can borrow her tail.” — Mira Grant", "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": "Mira Grant", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Never ask a mermaid if you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-her-tail/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/never-ask-a-mermaid-if-you-can-borrow-her-tail/#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 } } ] } ```