50 Colorful Fall Quotes That Capture the Beauty of the Season

Fall quotes that perfectly capture autumn’s essence

Ah, autumn. It’s the season when we say goodbye to shorts and beach days and hello to sweaters, fall activities and the always fun and spooky Halloween. It’s also a unique season that delivers unmatched beauty—the kind that has spurred centuries of admiration.

Fall has inspired some of the most beautiful words (and funniest memes) ever created, and those words deserved to be highlighted. Here are the best fall quotes that speak to fall lovers’ souls—they even make great fall-themed captions for your Instagram photos! Once you’re done reading these autumn quotes, scroll through these Halloween quotes to get you excited for the holiday.

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” —Albert Camus. A perfect quote to share on the first day of fall.

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” —L.M. Montgomery, “Anne of Green Gables.” What a great uplifting quote for fall lovers!

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” —Lauren DeStefano, “Wither.” Now this is a wonderful book quote that captures fall’s beauty.

“Autumn … the year’s last, loveliest smile.” —William Cullen Bryant. Don’t forget to bookmark these gorgeous fall pictures you have to see to believe.

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” —Jim Bishop. Such a calm quote that still gets the point across. 

“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!” —Percy Bysshe Shelley. Remember this quote when you’re planning your next fall getaway.

“There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves.” —Joe L. Wheeler. Do you know why leaves change color?

“She looked like autumn, when leaves turned and fruit ripened.” —Sarah Addison Allen, “Garden Spells.” By the way, here’s why Americans say “fall” instead of “autumn.”

“I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.” —Lee Maynard. If summer’s more your thing, read these great summer quotes.

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby.” One of the best fall quotes from one of the best books ever written.

“The leaves fall, the wind blows and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” —Henry Beston. Don’t forget to wear those heavier wools when you go apple picking in the fall.

“Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable … the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street … by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.” —Hal Borland. We can already hear the crisp leaves crunching as we walk through the pumpkin patch!

“Autumn lingered on as if fond of its own perfection.” —Winston Graham, “Ross Poldark” 

“I notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.” —Friedrich Nietzsche. This is one of those fall quotes that doubles as a good nature quote.

“Autumn was her happiest season.” —Harper Lee, “Go Set a Watchman”

“Autumn is my spring!” —August Strindberg, “A Dream Play”

“As leaves cover the forest floor in a carpet of vibrant rusts, orange and gold, autumn proves that sometimes death, too, can be a beautiful thing.” —Nikita Gill

“In Heaven, it is always autumn.” —John Donne 

“It was like autumn, looking at her. It was like driving up north to see the colors.” —Jeffrey Eugenides, “Middlesex.” Looking to travel in the fall? Check out these great fall weekend getaways.

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” —Oscar Wilde

“When everything looks like a magical oil painting, you know you are in autumn!” —Mehmet Murat ildan

“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love—that makes life and nature harmonize.” —George Eliot

“Summer dashed off, her sundress flowing with greens; while autumn slipped into a gown with jeweled seams.” —Angie Weiland-Crosby

“The heart of Autumn must have broken here and poured its treasure out upon the leaves.” —Charlotte Bates. Speaking of leaves—these are the best places to spot fall foliage.

“Another fall, another turned page…” —Wallace Stegner

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” —Chad Sugg

“Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day.” —Shira Tamir

“Now autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods, and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt.” —William Allingham. These fall quotes are great—and so are these spring quotes.

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” —Vincent van Gogh

“It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it.” —Diana Gabaldon, “Outlander” (a fall quote from the bestselling books turned into a TV show!).

“Autumn whispered to the wind, ‘I fall; but always rise again.'” —Angie Weiland-Crosby

“The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider.” —Jane Hirshfield. A great fall activity that features this delicious fruit? Bobbing for apples.

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.” —John Donne

“A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think I, too, have known autumn too long.” —E.E. Cummings. These quotes about fall are really something—and so are these hope quotes.

“The tints of autumn … a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, frost.” —John Greenleaf Whittier

“It’s September 21, a day I love for the balance it carries with it.” —Pam Houston, “Waltzing the Cat”

“The smell of burning firewood and the molding of organic, earthy substances reminded her of jumping wildly into the enormous leaf piles of autumns past and she suddenly wished that it was appropriate for someone her age to do such a thing.” —Abby Slovin, “Letters in Cardboard Boxes”

“Autumn has arrived. I hear it in the whispering of leaves.” —Anujj Elviis

“When leaves have to let go of the tree, they wear their best colors and they dance all the way to the ground.” —Karen Kingsbury, “Finding Home”

“The leaves are changing; I feel poetry in the air.” —Laura Jaworski

“And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.” —Raquel Franco

“Autumn is grey rainy afternoons, and fond memories of raking up leaves into tidy neat piles, just to jump in and spread them around again.” —Jason Soroski

“A boy who loved autumn; A girl who was forever October.” —Nitya Prakash

“Autumn is the time of year when Mother Nature says, ‘Look how easy, how healthy and how beautiful letting go can be.'” —Toni Sorenson

“Even those fallen leaves dance, on the musical wind cadence.” —Anoushka Tyagi

“God blows on the leaves, they turn to gold, and we call it autumn.” —Joyce Rachelle

“My soul is in a state of perpetual autumn.” —Nichole McElhaney, “Poetry for Lost Girls and Liminal Creatures.” This quote about fall really speaks to the soul—and so do these life-changing quotes.

“Life is like an autumn; short but colorful.” —Zain Baloch

“Nothing dies as beautifully as autumn.” —Ashlee Willis, “A Wish Made of Glass”

“There’s something exceptional about autumn.” —Charmaine J. Forde. Now that you’ve read these fall quotes, get ready for these cozy winter quotes.