Tortoise Quotes

“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”
― Warren Buffett

“Nice plan. Take the gullible outsiders, walk them around for a bit, then feed them to the giant tortoise.”
― Ilona Andrews, Magic Burns

“My name," I tell Wilbur in the most dignified voice I can find, "Was inspired by Harriet Quimby, the first female American pilot and the first woman ever to cross the Channel in an aeroplane. My mother chose it to represent freedom and bravery and independence, and she gave it to me just before she died."

There's a short pause while Wilbur looks appropriately moved. Then Dad says, "Who told you that?"
"Annabel did."
"Well, it's not true at all. You were named after Harriet the tortoise, the second longest living tortoise in the world."

There's a silence while I stare at Dad and Annabel puts her head in her hands so abruptly that the pen starts to leak into her collar. "Richard," she moans quietly.
"A tortoise?" I repeat in dismay. "I'm named after a tortoise? What the hell is a tortoise supposed to represent?"
"Longevity?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“In there?'
She nodded.
'You want us to go into the tortoise?'
Another nod.
'It's alive.'
Another nod.”
― Ilona Andrews, Magic Burns

“Warren Buffett is one of the best learning machines on this earth. The turtles which outrun the hares are learning machines. If you stop learning in this world, the world rushes right by you.”
― Lucas Remmerswaal, 13 Habits.com The tale of Tortoise Buffett and Trader Hare: Inspired by Warren Buffett

“When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle - we used to call him Tortoise -"
"Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked.
"We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle angrily: "really you are very dull!”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass

“Good habits are the basic tools that will determine whether you are a tortoise
or hare in life!”
― Lucas Remmerswaal, 13 Habits.com The tale of Tortoise Buffett and Trader Hare: Inspired by Warren Buffett

“You must really want to win with all of your heart! Plan your race; do not ever get side tracked. Focus on your goal - “the finishing line”!”
― Lucas Remmerswaal, 13 Habits.com The tale of Tortoise Buffett and Trader Hare: Inspired by Warren Buffett

“No step is a small step.”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“I had no idea what humans were capable of. I heard they were crafty, but how are they able to do such things?

You mean harness light and water? Speedy asked. Change the weather?

Yes.

It's only the beginning, Speedy said. There are more marvels waiting. Some not so marvelous.

Such as?

Be not in haste, said the tortoise.
There is nothing here but time.
If you live long enough, you will see.
Of course, though, you will see them from your cage.

Live long enough? I asked. Are there mortal dangers here?

The tortoise chuckled.

The boy doesn't always take very good care of his prisoners, Rex the lizard chimed in.

What do you mean? He doesn't feed us enough?

Sometimes he doesn't understand what we need to survive, Rex answered. Sometimes he plays too rough.

How can a creature able to bend the laws of nature be so cruel? I asked.”
― Patrick Jennings, We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes

“People are eager to walk in other people's pair of shoes that does not fit them. The result is that, their dreams begin to imitate a "tortoise" walk and that I guess is already uncomfortable!”
― Israelmore Ayivor, Shaping the dream

“Human beings can learn valuable lessons in conservation of necessary personal resources for accomplishing the fundamental tenants of life by observing a judiciously paced turtle determinedly and stealthily traversing the world.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“Unmolested and with grass to eat, a tortoise can live eighty years. Their populations have plummeted in the Mojave in recent years, victims of a perfect storm of drought, sprawl development, solar energy projects, off-road vehicle enthusiasts (who crush them under their wheels), poaching, vandals with pistols (who use them for target practice), and, not least, livestock grazing.”
― Christopher Ketcham, This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West

“Tortoises are not very fast, as everyone knows, but they make up for their slow speed by being very determined. And if you turn your back on a tortoise, thinking they will just hang around like a lazy cat, you are in for a surprise.”
― William Herring

“Love makes even a turtle smile.”
― Henrietta Newton Martin

“Slow and steady wins the race' sounds good only in story books. In real life, aim to be the hare who does not stop to rest.”
― Ibn Jeem

“Don’t let her deceive you; she looks slow, but if I turn my head, puff, she’s gone. Then I have to get the lettuce out and sit and wait; eventually she’ll smell it and come to it, but it can take hours.”
― Raynor Winn, The Salt Path

“His neck as he stretched it upwards and backwards, felt like the neck of an antediluvian tortoise.”
― John Cowper Powys, Weymouth Sands

“Tortoise ran to win and he did. Did somebody tell you that hare ran for fun, not to win? Nobody you told what the tortoise got after winning. Hare enjoyed running and resting as well.”
― Vikrmn: CA Vikram Verma, Slate