55 winter quotes that will warm your heart all season long

Winter can get a bad rap.

Sure, it gets cold — so cold that all you want to do is burrow under a blanket. Not to mention the sun sets far too early, bringing on the winter doldrums. But we’re here to tell you that it’s not all gloom and doom.

From the first snowfall that coats the ground to bundling up in cozy clothes, winter is full of wonders. The season is an opportunity to find warmth (literally and figuratively) in a variety of ways.

You can fill the time up with outdoor adventures, or kindle your romance with charming dates. You may even decide to stay in the comfort of your own home, stirring a hot cocoa or shopping for a loved one ahead of the holidays. Whatever you choose, the important thing is that you take a moment to appreciate winter and all of its splendor before it melts away in a matter of months.

Many celebrated authors, celebrities and historical figures have shared their takes on the season, speaking to the joys of winter — and we've rounded up some of our favorites to share with you. Some quotes are solemn and sincere, while others fall on the light-hearted side. Look to our collection below for a pick-me-up, or use these inspiring words as Instagram captions.

All that to say: out with the winter blues, and in with winter fun courtesy of some of the best winter quotes.

• “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” ― John Steinbeck, “Travels with Charley: In Search of America”

• “Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.” ― George R.R. Martin, “A Feast for Crows”

• “Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.” ― Sara Raasch, “Snow Like Ashes”

• “In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.” ― Ben Aaronovitch, “Broken Homes”

• “Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.” — Anamika Mishra

• “Every winter has its spring.” — H. Tuttle

• “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” — Anne Bradstreet

• “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

• “People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” — Anton Chekhov

• “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” — Hal Borland

• “He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.” — John Burroughs

• “In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” — William Blake

• “Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.” — Pietro Aretino

• “I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.” — Andrew Wyeth

• “There’s nothing better than curling up with a good book and sitting in front of the fire on winter evenings.” — Leo Sayer

• “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” — Paul Theroux

• “Snow brings a special quality with it — the power to stop life as you know it dead in its tracks.” — Nancy Hatch Woodward

• "And as I turned to make my way back home, the snow turned into rain." — Dan Fogelberg, "Auld Lang Syne"

• "The only other sound’s the sweep, Of easy wind and downy flake." — Robert Frost, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening"

• “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: It is the time for home.” —Edith Sitwell

• “Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” — Yoko Ono

• "There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you’re special.” —Carol Rifka Brunt, “Tell the Wolves I’m Home”

• “Well, I know now. I know a little more how much a simple thing like a snowfall can mean to a person.” — Sylvia Plath, “The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath”

• “Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” — Victor Hugo

• “December has the clarity, the simplicity, and the silence you need for the best fresh start of your life.” — Vivian White

• “It seems like everything sleeps in winter, but it’s really a time of renewal and reflection.” — Elizabeth Camden

• “Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless.” — Terri Guillemets

• “Nothing burns like the cold.” — George R.R. Martin

• “Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.” —Candace Bushnell, "Lipstick Jungle"

• “Winter forms our character and brings out our best.” — Tom Allen

• “Winter is a glorious spectacle of glittering fractals complete with a soundscape and atmosphere entirely its own.” — Anders Swanson

• “Winter is the time of sacred balance and rejuvenation of life in preparation for the coming spring. It represents abundance, teaching and gratitude.” — Noelle Vignola

• “Summer is for surrendering; winter is for wondering.” — Debasish Mridha

• “Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.” —George R.R. Martin

• “Wisdom comes with winters.” — Oscar Wilde

• “That’s what winter is: an exercise in remembering how to still yourself then how to come pliantly back to life again.” — Ali Smith

• “To keep a warm heart in winter is the real victory.” — Marty Rubin

• “If winter helps you curl up and more that makes it one of the best of the seasons.” — Murray Pura

• “I like the cold weather. It means you get work done.” — Noam Chomsky

• “I pray this winter be gentle and kind — a season of rest from the wheel of the mind.” — John Geddes

• “Surrendering to the fact of winter is a relief: I am grateful for these lingering days of cold. They offer me a few more weeks of quiet and slow before spring emerges, the wheel picks up speed again, and the sound of its exciting spinning fills my days.” — Kelsi Turner

• “The snow did not even whisper its way to earth, but seemed to salt the night with silence.” — Dean Koontz

• “It’s so hard to think in winter. The world seems confined in the space of your heart; you can’t see beyond yourself.” — Patricia A. McKillip

• “Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do — or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so.” — Stanley Crawford

• “Sometimes I would like to be a child again, and other times a woman made of snow.” — Deirdre Sullivan

• “When snow falls, nature listens.” — Antoinette Van Kleeff

• “What fire could ever equal the sunshine of a winter’s day?” — Henry David Thoreau, “A Winter Walk”

• “It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it." — John Burroughs

• “Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.” — Sinclair Lewis

• “Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.” — Alexandra Guarnaschelli

• “How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!” — Thomas Wentworth Higginson

• “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” — Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ode to the West Wind”

• “One can follow the sun, of course, but I have always thought that it is best to know some winter, too, so that the summer, when it arrives, is the more gratefully received.” — Beatriz Williams, “Along the Infinite Sea”

• “Winter is nature’s sleep.” — H. S. Jacobs

• “Love has different shape, like this falling snow in winter.” — Rizki De

This article was originally published on TODAY.com