← Back to quotes

When a pair of magpies fly together They do not envy the pair of phoenixes. — Lady Ho

Poem

When a pair of magpies fly together They do not envy the pair of phoenixes.

Lady Ho
300 BC
★ 3.8
Other tags relating to this quote
Topic
BirdsContentmentSatisfaction
Statement type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Medium
Poem
Time
300 BCAncient World
Person
Lady Ho
Provenance
Current citation
Lady Ho. "A Song of Magpies." Women Poets of China, edited by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Zhong. New Directions Publishing, 1982.
Original citation
Lady Ho. A Song of Magpies. c. 300 BC.

Related quotes

Other quotes that share a subject, a time, or a voice with this one.

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.

Colleen McCullough
The Thorn Birds · 1977
Another quote aboutTopic·Birds

Other media

Works in other forms that share a subject with this one.

Other media onSubject·Birds