Metaphor Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old metaphor quotes, metaphor sayings, and metaphor proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. George Lakoff
Metaphor matters because it creates expectations. James Geary
God is a metaphor for that which transcends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that. Joseph Campbell
Metaphor is one of a group of problem solving medicines known as figures of speech which are normally used to treat literal thinking and other diseases. Grant Morrison
There are metaphors more real than the people who walk in the street. Fernando Pessoa
A good metaphor can make any bad idea sound good. Scott Adams
Early human thought proceeded by metaphor. Gerald Edelman
Metaphor is awkward, but emotion, by its nature, leaves you no more scalable approach. Rachel Hartman
But metaphors help eliminate what separates you and me. Haruki Murakami
Through metaphor to reconcile the people and the stones. William Carlos Williams
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Wendy Mass
Metaphor is not, and never has been, a mere literary term. It is an event. Mary Ruefle
Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space. Orson Scott Card
Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art. Twyla Tharp
A single metaphor can give birth to love. Milan Kundera
Metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. George Lakoff
Metaphor creates a new reality from which the original appears to be unreal. Wallace Stevens
A river of images and thoughts and feelings, dirtied and polluted so that no one could drink from it without gagging. Barry Lyga
Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. James Geary
An epithet or metaphor drawn from nature ennobles art; an epithet or metaphor drawn from art degrades nature. Samuel Johnson
Metaphors are much more tenacious than facts. Paul de Man
Metaphor creates a kind of conceptual synesthesia, in which we understand one concept in the context of another. James Geary
Metaphors are our way of losing ourselves in semblances or treading water in a sea of seeming. Roberto Bolaño
The metaphor is an origin, the origin of an image which acts directly, immediately. Gaston Bachelard
What a different result one gets by changing the metaphor! George Eliot
Metaphor for the night sky: a trillion asterisks and no explanations. Robert Breault
Story is metaphor for life and life is lived in time. Robert McKee
Metaphor has traditionally been regarded as the matrix and pattern of the figures of speech. Marshall McLuhan
Metaphor is not just the detection of patterns; it is the creation of patterns. James Geary
Metaphor impinges on everything, allowing us poets and non-poets alike to experience and think about the world in fluid, unusual ways. James Geary