--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on…" description: "\"“the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on its paws. it can kill a man.”\" — Wallace Stevens" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg" --- # the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on its paws. it can… ![“the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on its paws. it can kill a man.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg) > ““the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on its paws. it can kill a man.”” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The lion appears peaceful but holds lethal potential. **In simple terms:** Appearances can hide danger. Key Takeaway Stay aware of hidden threats. Themes perception danger duality Mood cautionary thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - wildlife observation - personal relationships - security assessments Key Concepts existentialism symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate hidden danger? - How do you assess risk? A Different Perspective May cause unnecessary fear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lion/) [Lions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lions/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“A poem is a meteor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-poem-is-a-meteor/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Sleeper in the Valley" The river sings and cuts a hole in the meadow, madly hooking white tatters on the rushes. light escalades the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/sleeper-in-the-valley-the-river-sings-and-cuts-a-hole-in-the-meadow/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“The Alion king,” Bella said. “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight,” she singsonged. “I wonder if he looks anything like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milly-taiden/the-alion-king-bella-said-in-the-jungle-the-mighty-jungle-the-lion/) [Milly Taiden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milly-taiden/) > [“Sometimes you must go too far to see what would suffice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-ross/sometimes-you-must-go-too-far-to-see-what-would-suffice/) [Rodney Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-ross/) > [“(Wallace) Stevens turns to the idea of the weather precisely as the religious idea turns to the idea of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/wallace-stevens-turns-to-the-idea-of-the-weather-precisely-as-the/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“The slow maturation of genuine creativity looks like laziness to a committee. Wallace Stevens was forty-three when his first book appeared. Robert Frost was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gioia/the-slow-maturation-of-genuine-creativity-looks-like-laziness-to-a/) [Dana Gioia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gioia/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More Lion quotes > [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/) > [“When a wolf is hungry it befriends sheep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-a-wolf-is-hungry-it-befriends-sheep/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Flattery looks like friendship, just like a wolf looks like a dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-auliq-ice/flattery-looks-like-friendship-just-like-a-wolf-looks-like-a-dog/) [Oscar Auliq-Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-auliq-ice/) > [“(Quoting her friend Tom Black on an amateur hunter's injury:) "Lion, rifles -- and stupidity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/quoting-her-friend-tom-black-on-an-amateur-hunter-s-injury-lion/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [My first name was inspired by the character of Aslan, the lion in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aselin-debison/my-first-name-was-inspired-by-the-character-of-aslan-the-lion-in-c-s/) Aselin Debison > [I'm in 'Madagascar 2.' I'm Testy the Lion. The franchise moves to Africa, and Bernie Mac is also in the film. I loved working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lister-jr/i-m-in-madagascar-2-i-m-testy-the-lion-the-franchise-moves-to-africa/) [Tom Lister, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lister-jr/) > [Throw me to the wolfs and I will return leading the pack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/any/throw-me-to-the-wolfs-and-i-will-return-leading-the-pack/) Any > [“Just like a kitten pretending to be a lion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-hamilton/just-like-a-kitten-pretending-to-be-a-lion/) [Kiki Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-hamilton/) > [Don't ask who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-de-gaulle/don-t-ask-who-s-influenced-me-a-lion-is-made-up-of-the-lambs-he-s/) [Charles de Gaulle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-de-gaulle/) > [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/) > [When a captive lion steps out of his cage, he comes into a wider world than the lion who has known only the wilds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/when-a-captive-lion-steps-out-of-his-cage-he-comes-into-a-wider-world/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [“How much does an elephant weigh? ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-patton/how-much-does-an-elephant-weigh/) Rhonda Patton > [After The Wizard Of Oz I was typecast as a lion, and there aren't all that many parts for lions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-lahr/after-the-wizard-of-oz-i-was-typecast-as-a-lion-and-there-aren-t-all/) Bert Lahr > [Until the lion learns to speak, the tales of hunting will be weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/until-the-lion-learns-to-speak-the-tales-of-hunting-will-be-weak/) [K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/) > [“An injured lion wants to know if he can still roar. It's about dignity and self-esteem, which isn't quite the same as vanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-zaslow/an-injured-lion-wants-to-know-if-he-can-still-roar-it-s-about-dignity/) [Jeffrey Zaslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-zaslow/) [Browse all 1,875 Lion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on its paws. it can kill a man.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stevens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-its-paws-it-can-kill-a-man/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-its-paws-it-can-kill-a-man/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bc/wallace-stevens-846_lions_the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-i_1331108.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the lion sleeps in the sun. its nose on its paws. it can kill a man.” — Wallace Stevens", "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": "Wallace Stevens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“the lion sleeps in the sun....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-its-paws-it-can-kill-a-man/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-lion-sleeps-in-the-sun-its-nose-on-its-paws-it-can-kill-a-man/#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 } } ] } ```