--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Be like the bird who, pausing in her…" description: "\"Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.\" — Vic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg" --- # Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on… ![“Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg) > “Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A bird trusts her wings even when the branch seems fragile, and continues to sing despite uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Trust your abilities even when support feels weak. Key Takeaway Keep singing despite doubt. Themes confidence resilience faith creativity nature birdsong Mood hopeful determined inspirational Type poetic metaphorical When to use this quote - personal challenges - creative projects - public speaking - overcoming fear Key Concepts Self‑efficacy trust inner strength Questions to Reflect On - What hidden strengths do you rely on in fragile moments? - How can you nurture confidence when support wavers? A Different Perspective Even with trust, external support may still fail, requiring adaptation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) ## Related quotes > [Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/be-like-the-bird-that-pausing-in-her-flight-awhile-on-boughs-too/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/be-like-the-bird-that-passing-on-her-flight-awhile-on-boughs-too/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [That is where homeland is. In that shifting space, kinfolk know one another by secret signs; and wherever kinfolk meet, homeland soil coalesces about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-turner-hospital/that-is-where-homeland-is-in-that-shifting-space-kinfolk-know-one/) [Janette Turner Hospital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-turner-hospital/) > [“Let us be like a bird for a moment perched On a frail branch when he sings; Though he feels it bend, yet he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/let-us-be-like-a-bird-for-a-moment-perched-on-a-frail-branch-when-he/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Fire up your heart for the wind is getting cold, now it always gets cold for the riders of the night. When you carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/fire-up-your-heart-for-the-wind-is-getting-cold-now-it-always-gets/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [“Flight is many things. Something clean and swift, like a bird skimming across the sky. Or something filthy and crawling; a series of crablike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-thompson/flight-is-many-things-something-clean-and-swift-like-a-bird-skimming/) [Jim Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-thompson/) > [Every bird which flies has the thread of the infinite in its claw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/every-bird-which-flies-has-the-thread-of-the-infinite-in-its-claw/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Did I ever tell you,’ said Lymond pausing on the afterthought, on his way to the flap, ‘that that aunt of mine once hatched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-dunnett/did-i-ever-tell-you-said-lymond-pausing-on-the-afterthought-on-his/) [Dorothy Dunnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-dunnett/) > [Seeing what is wrong and how it could be made right propels us into action, but in that action we often leave other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/seeing-what-is-wrong-and-how-it-could-be-made-right-propels-us-into/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [Within seconds thoughts become words that slip off our tongue and into the world. Pausing before we speak may seem cumbersome, but it allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah/within-seconds-thoughts-become-words-that-slip-off-our-tongue-and/) [David Jeremiah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah/) > [Pause and remember - Stop procrastinating! Wishing is wonderful but action is what it takes to make it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-young/pause-and-remember-stop-procrastinating-wishing-is-wonderful-but/) [Jennifer Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-young/) > [Pause and remember - Every single event in your life, especially the difficult lessons, have made you smarter, stronger, and wiser than you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-young/pause-and-remember-every-single-event-in-your-life-especially-the/) [Jennifer Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-young/) > [Sometimes during the day, I consciously focus on some ordinary object and allow myself a momentary "paying-attention." This paying-attention gives meaning to my life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/sometimes-during-the-day-i-consciously-focus-on-some-ordinary-object/) [Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/) > [Flowers speak to us if we listen. Appreciating the blossom in hand or pausing in the garden to admire the beauty quiets our outer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hersey/flowers-speak-to-us-if-we-listen-appreciating-the-blossom-in-hand-or/) [Jean Hersey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hersey/) > [Pausing allows you to take a beat to take a breath in your life. As everybody else is rushing around like a lunatic out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/pausing-allows-you-to-take-a-beat-to-take-a-breath-in-your-life-as/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## 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": "Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Victor Hugo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flight-awhile-on-boughs-too/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flight-awhile-on-boughs-too/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/victor-hugo-32_bird_be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flig_3066351.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her…” — Victor Hugo", "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": "Victor Hugo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Be like the bird who, pausing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flight-awhile-on-boughs-too/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/be-like-the-bird-who-pausing-in-her-flight-awhile-on-boughs-too/#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 } } ] } ```