Desert Sayings and Quotes

While often used as a backdrop in movies for the worst place to be stranded, deserts can be quite beautiful. Maybe it’s the cacti or beautiful sunsets that make arid regions seem magical. Below you’ll find a collection of wise and inspirational desert quotes.

The immense desert, empty as a bird's wing, inspired him with promise. Mike Bond
The desert surrounds your every step and you walk forever a thirsty man. Christopher Pike
In the desert, the line between life and death is sharp and quick. Brian Herbert
You should not see the desert simply as some faraway place of little rain. There are many forms of thirst. William Langewiesche
The desert shatters the soul's arrogance and leaves body and soul crying out in thirst and hunger. In the desert we trust God or die. Dan B. Allender
The desert is a natural extension of the inner silence of the body. Jean Baudrillard
The desert, when the sun comes up. I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the Earth began. Tom Hanks
If the desert allows the trees to proliferate, the desert shall disappear! Therefore the desert has no choice but to be the enemy of the trees! Mehmet Murat ildan
I have this personal affinity for the desert. I am fascinated by the desert. I love it. Erika Slezak
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness on the desert air. Paul Hoffman
What draws us into the desert is the search for something intimate in the remote. Edward Abbey
What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. Antoine de Saint
The desert sharpened the sweet ache of his longing, amplified it, gave shape to it in sere geology and clean slant of light. Jon Krakauer
Nothing the desert produces expresses it better than the unhappy growth of the tree yuccas. Mary Hunter Austin
In the empire of desert, water is the king and shadow is the queen. Mehmet Murat ildan
Polish comes from the cities; wisdom from the desert. Frank Herbert
The desert is the theater of the human struggle of searching for God. Jan Majernik
The vast sage desert undulates with almost imperceptible tides like the oceans. Frank Waters
This creed of the desert seemed inexpressible in words, and indeed in thought. T. E. Lawrence
Like water in the desert is wisdom to the soul. Edward Counsel
The desert does not mean the absence of men, it means the presence of God. Carlo Carreto
Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping? William Shakespeare
That undefined and mingled hum, Voice of the desert never dumb! James Hogg
A desert is a place without expectation. Nadine Gordimer
There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing. David
Son of the old moon-mountains African! Stream of the pyramid and crocodile! We call thee fruitful, and that very while a desert, fills our seeing's inward span. John Keats
Night poured over the desert. It came suddenly, in purple. In the clear air, the stars drilled down out of the sky, reminding any thoughtful watcher that it is in the deserts and high places that religions are generated. When men see nothing but bottomless infinity over their heads they have always had a driving and desperate urge to find someone to put in the way. Terry Pratchett
I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams... Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Water, water, water....There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount , a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid West so different from any other part of the nation. There is no lack of water here unless you try to establish a city where no city should be. Edward Abbey
The desert and the ocean are realms of desolation on the surface. The desert is a place of bones, where the innards are turned out, to desiccate into dust. Vera Nazarian
The thing about tears is that they can be as quiet as a cloud floating across the desert sky. Benjamin Alire Saenz
They took it for granted that if they went he would go also, but really they scarcely cared. Thus children are ever so ready, when novelty knocks, to desert their dearest ones. J.M. Barrie
The desert could not be claimed or owned–it was a piece of cloth carried by winds, never held down by stones, and given a hundred shifting names... Its caravans, those strange rambling feasts and cultures, left nothing behind, not an ember. All of us, even those with European homes and children in the distance, wished to remove the clothing of our countries. It was a place of faith. We disappeared into landscape. Michael Ondaatje
Life, deal gently with her ... Love, never desert her L.M. Montgomery
The planet’s famous red colour is from iron oxide coating everything. So it’s not just a desert. It’s a desert so old it’s literally rusting. Andy Weir
The field of the soul must be watered by the rain with tears of love; otherwise it will become a desert. Sorin Cerin
But in the desert, in the pure clean atmosphere, in the silence – there you can find yourself. And unless you begin to know yourself, how can you even begin to search for God? Father Dioscuros
The vastness of the desert frightened her. Everything looked too far away, even the cloudless sky. There was nowhere you could hide in such emptiness. James Carlos Blake
Madness plants mirrors in the desert. I find the means frightening. Floriano Martins
In the desert, the only god is a well. Vera Nazarian
The desert was bad, but nothing could compare with the horrors of a tropical rain forest. Tahir Shah
The desert sings of loss, always loss, and if you stand quiet with your eyes closed, it will grieve you too. Nafiza Azad
At such moments felt my mind wake up with the temptation of life gathering courage for flowering beauty even in the desert of living. Suman Pokhrel
The desert still has a memory of water. And that memory is a living thing. It is infused into the sand. It is part of its essence. Thomas Lloyd Qualls
No law. No order. No time or space. Danger was the desert’s breath, and the landscape changed with every wind. Zita Steele
Nothing is all bad. There are very beautiful flowers in the desert amidst the spikes and thorns. Just don't let them take over. In the garden of love there is little room for prickly things. Kate McGahan
I like to think of the desert as just a big beach without water. Andy Heyward
Already I have dropped back into the desert as if it were my own place. Silence and solitude all around me like an impenetrable veil. Sleep more profound that civilization contrives. And then, the roadless desert, again. Werner Herzog
Good Springs, in the Nevada desert, where water is life and the desert is death. Wells Root
A third of the land on our planet is desert. These great scars on the face of the Earth David Attenborough
Cry for the desert / I will tremble and receive His pain / Die for the desert / I will pour my life on this terrain. Twila Paris
The sun was rising / The day was saddled up to go / The desert is a lonely night for disappear Jonathan Wilson
The rain in flowers through the desert sky / Is wiser then you and me / The birds now go east / But still miss a sleep / And the desert raven he has palm trees Jonathan Wilson
If the earth is up above us stars are down below / If there are daisies in the desert roses in the snow Reeves
Cactus plants are bloomin', sagebrush every where / Granite spires are standin' all around / I tell you folks it's Heaven, to be ridin' down the trail / When the desert sun goes down Gene Autry
Somewhere north of heaven / Where eagles fear to fly / Where the sun burns hot as the devil's gate / The desert meets the sky Paul Nelson
Suffers who suffer all / Can swim upon the desert / Where avarice have ravaged all Chris Scott Wagner
It was a dry wind / And it swept across the desert / And it curled into the circle of birth / And the dead sand Forere Motlhoheloa
Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground / From the Grand Coulee Dam where the waters run down Woody Guthrie
My poor feet have traveled a hot dusty road / Out of your Dust Bowl and westward we rolled / And your deserts were hot and your mountain was cold Woody Guthrie
Stars are brighter / In the desert sky / No need to wonder or justify Amanda Marshall
Heavenly places we seek to find / Here lies a desert / With spirits running dry Brennan
The desert air is hot and dry / Two lanes weaving earth and sky / The stars are all that's keeping time till morning Litvin Kaplansky
And the white sand begins / Among the rocks. / The wheeling eagles mocked me high there from the skies, / The red blast of the desert wind Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
The coolness of the evening breeze, / caresses her high-boned cheeks, / dreamy, almond eyes stare toward the / parched mountains of the desert, / beyond any highway signs and / sun-baked roads. Sonia Walker
The farmer works, the bull cries loud, / For all they want is a rain yielding cloud. / The desert's shrub though green in color, / Will attract scores of rain yet to come, / For mere fulfillment of the empty drum. Nikhil Parekh
The brown crusty surface of the desert soil, / Can always be ploughed by hard turmoil. Nikhil Parekh
Only a greater stillness in the air, / Save for hot sighs of desert-heated breath, / Only the stars, ceasing their sleepless stare, / Only the east, rose-flushing, fresh from death. Ernest Favenc
The desert foxes hide in holes, / The jackal seeks his lair; / The sombre rocks, like reddening coals, / Glow lurid in the glare. Mathilde Blind
Deserts occur along western coasts because their climates are influenced by nearly eastern boundary currents. Michael Allaby
Sandy deserts certainly exist, but most deserts are not vast oceans of sand. They are rocky, with a hard surface covered with stones and gravel and outcrops of bare rock. Michael Allaby
Deserts are windy places and over thousands of years the wind blows away all the dust and sand. Michael Allaby
In some deserts there are rocks carved by the wind into fantastic shapes. The sand must go somewhere, of course. It piles up to form dunes, but the dunes are constantly shifting as the restless wind ceaselessly rearranges the landscape. Michael Allaby
Nor are all deserts hot. Even those that are hot by day are often cold at night, but some deserts are cold for most of the time. Michael Allaby
There are also deserts lying beside coasts, where fog is common but rain is extremely rare. Michael Allaby
Other deserts are icy wilderness, no less windy and arid--despite the snow and ice that covers the ground and the screaming blizzards of blown snow that reduce the world to a uniform whiteness. Michael Allaby
Deserts, both hot and cold, are also home to people who have found ways to thrive in them. Michael Allaby
Deserts are barren, inhospitable places. The very word conjures an image of featureless and dunes stretching beautiful but terrible for as far as the eye can see. Michael Allaby
We affect the desert and desert affects us. Deserts are an integral part of the story of humanity and thus are the object of fascination for many of us. Michael A. Mares
Until now there has been no single source that addresses all the complex factors that constitute desert ecosystem. Michael A. Mares
Among the major challenges facing desert organisms are also water, salt balance, light , and temperature. Michael A. Mares
A desert, which might be considered the antithesis of the sea, actually poses similar challenges to the evolution of life. Michael A. Mares
Human and deserts have been inextricably linked across the ages, and it is important that we understand these marvelous areas, for they are a major component in the world. Michael A. Mares
Deserts have been important throughout human history. The cradle of civilization is located in a dryland situated near the confluence of two great rivers. Michael A. Mares
Deserts have been the scene for the development of great religious (Religion in Deserts) and theaters for great wars. Michael A. Mares
Deserts make a major contribution to the remarkable nature of our planet and provide a home for innumerable species that are unknown outside the boundaries of arid lands. Michael A. Mares
Far from being wastelands, deserts are habitats that are filled with unique forms of life. Michael A. Mares
One popular view of a desert is that of a wasteland containing mainly snakes and scorpions and a few sparse plants, but the world's deserts are rich in both animals and plants. Michael A. Mares
Deserts and semideserts may support vast fields of dunes, extensive gallery forests, space scrublands, and salt lakes. Michael A. Mares
Many desert species bloom in the late winter; others flower in spring or fall. Michael A. Mares
Deserts embrace a huge variety of conditions. There are hot deserts and cold deserts, sandy deserts and rocky deserts, foggy deserts and sunny deserts, barren deserts and lush, verdant parts of deserts. Nick Middleton
Deserts are found at high altitudes and below sea level, on coastlines and deep inside continental interiors. They are places of romance, and of hardship, of deep spirituality and dazzling natural beauty. Nick Middleton
Deserts include vast areas of stark wilderness and large, densely populated cities with every modern amenity. Nick Middleton
People has been inextricably linked with deserts since time immemorial. Crucial early developments in agriculture and the rise of the city took place in the deserts of the Middle East, the 'cradle of civilization'. Nick Middleton
The world's deserts have been perceived as places of magnificence and mystery, silence and contemplation, inspiring novelists, poets, artists, and film-makers, and acting as the birth place for three of the world's great religions. Nick Middleton
The irregular dynamics of desert life can make these environments seem marginal in many respects. Nick Middleton
Deserts are among the regions most vulnerable to climate change, but their great global extent also means that an understanding of how deserts respond to change has implications for the planet as a whole and thus for every one of us. Nick Middleton
An artist's approach to deserts may be different from the stance taken by a scientist although, broadly, the two usually overlap geographically. It may, or may not, be surprising to learn that no universally accepted definition of the term 'desert' exists. Nick Middleton
Deserts are thirsty places. They get less than 10 inches (25 centimetres) of rain a year. Still, these dry places are full of amazing animals. Alison Auch
Deserts have long captured our imaginations with their inaccessible and inhospitable nature. Even a casual visit to the desert will expose an individual to feelings of vastness, solitude, and one's own frailty. Fred Punzo
Your are struck by the awesome beauty of the desert landscape even as you view it in the relentless glare of the midday sun. It is at once a kaleidoscope of images, a land of contrasts and paradoxes. Fred Punzo
The desert landscape appears as if it has been stripped to its bare essentials with no room for frivolous decor. Fred Punzo
A desert is a particularly arid region of the planet where the vegetation cover is limited or almost absent and the fauna is scarce. Marco Stoppato
What you come to see on the surface is not what you come to know. Emptiness in the desert is the fullness of space, a fullness of space that eliminates time. The desert is time, exposed time, geologic time. One needs time in the desert to see. Terry Tempest Williams
Deserts are very dry places, but plants can still grow there. Desert plants collect and use water in special ways. Julie Penn