191 Best Fall Quotes and Sayings for Crisp Days and Cozy Nights

Inside: The best fall quotes and sayings for celebrating autumn, from colorful leaves and cozy days to pumpkins, October, funny sayings, and inspiring words about the season.

I’m usually ready for fall long before fall is ready for Texas.

Maybe that’s why that first morning when I walk outside and feel the slightest tinge of coolness in the still-warm air is so thrilling. Fall kind of marks the beginning of a new year for me. It gives me that “fresh start” feeling.

Around here, the beginning of fall means the start of college football season, but we don’t get the glorious changing-leaves kind of autumn. Ours tend to go from green to brown to straight onto the ground.

But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to do all the fall things to embrace this special season… put pumpkins everywhere, pull out the cozy throws, make a big ol’ pot of soup, buy mums that I’ll try my best to keep alive, and find an excuse to be outside on one of those perfect cooler days.

Maybe because our fall is so short, I want to make as much of it as I can. If the weather and the trees here aren’t going to give me a full-on fall, I’m perfectly happy to create a little more of it myself.

And sometimes just the right words can put you in that fall state of mind too. This collection of fall quotes and sayings captures all those little things that make us look forward to the season every year.

Classic Fall Quotes.

Some quotes capture the feeling of fall so perfectly that they never go out of style. These timeless words from authors, poets, and writers celebrate crisp days, changing leaves, and all the beauty that makes autumn such a favorite season.

• “Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.” —Elizabeth Lawrence
• “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” —L.M. Montgomery

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it.” —George Eliot

• “No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.” —John Donne
• “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” —John Keats

• “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
• “Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” —Samuel Butler

“Autumn carries more gold in its hands than the other seasons combined.” —Jim Bishop

• “Autumn is a season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• “The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” —Henry Beston

Short & Sweet Fall Quotes.

Sometimes just a few words are enough to bring on all the fall feelings. These short fall quotes and sayings are perfect for captions, cards, signs, or anywhere you need a little dose of autumn.

• “Autumn is as joyful and sweet as an untimely end.” —Rémy de Gourmont
• “Fall is proof that change can be beautiful.”

“Autumn is a symphony of permanence and change.” —Bonaro W. Overstreet

• “October is a hallelujah!” —John Nichols
• “Autumn is springtime in reverse.” —Terri Guillemets

• “And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” —Oscar Wilde
• “Autumn is the hush before winter.” —French proverb

“Days decrease, and autumn grows.” —Robert Browning

• “Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year.” —J.K. Rowling
• “Autumn is my spring!” —August Strindberg
• “Autumn is the antidote to stifling summer.” —Terri Guillemets

Beautiful Fall Quotes.

There’s a reason fall seems to bring out the poet in all of us. The splendor of God’s creation this time of year with the golden light, colorful leaves, crisp air, and brilliant blue skies has inspired some especially beautiful words about the season.

• “Autumn glows upon us like a splendid evening; it is the very sunset of the year.” —Mary Russell Mitford
• “The tints of autumn—a mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of the enchanter, Frost.” —John Greenleaf Whittier
• “It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.” —Sarah Addison Allen

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

• “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” —Nathaniel Hawthorne
• “There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.” —Percy Bysshe Shelley
• “By all these lovely tokens September days are here, with summer’s best of weather and autumn’s best of cheer.” —Helen Hunt Jackson
• “The morns are meeker than they were, the nuts are getting brown; the berry’s cheek is plumper, the rose is out of town.” —Emily Dickinson

• “The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground.” —Andrea Gibson
• “Autumn lingered on as if fond of its own perfection.” —Winston Graham
• “I saw old Autumn in the misty morn stand shadowless like silence, listening to silence.” —Thomas Hood
• “The clear light that belongs to October was making the landscape radiant.” —Florence Bone
• “Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!” —Humbert Wolfe

“The fallen leaves in the forest seemed to make even the ground glow and burn with light.” —Malcolm Lowry

• “Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.” —Faith Baldwin
• “The leaves are changing; I feel poetry in the air.” —Laura Jaworski
• “There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves.” —Joe L. Wheeler

Funny Fall Quotes.

As much as I love fall, I will say people get a little carried away with it. The very first touch of cool air and we’re pulling out sweaters, lighting fall candles, and buying pumpkins like they won’t rot by the end of the season. These funny fall quotes and sayings make us a little more self aware.

• “Why is summer mist romantic and autumn mist just sad?” —Dodie Smith
• “Autumn is a season followed immediately by looking forward to spring.” —Doug Larson
• “It’s like going back to school. You know, autumn! Time for ‘Harry Potter’.” —Robbie Coltrane

“No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, no fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds — November!” —Thomas Hood

• “Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.” —David Letterman
• “I’m just here for the cool weather and carbohydrates.”
• “My favorite fall activity is pretending the leaves in my yard are charming instead of work.”

• “Fall is when my desire to bake greatly exceeds my willingness to clean the kitchen afterward.”
• “I love fall. It’s the three weeks between complaining that I’m hot and complaining that I’m cold.”
• “There are two times of year: autumn and waiting for autumn.”
• “I came. I saw. I bought another pumpkin.”

“Fall: when it’s perfectly reasonable to decorate the house with vegetables.”

• “The only thing getting ‘lit’ this weekend is my fall-scented candle.”
• “I’m outdoorsy in the sense that I like drinking coffee on the porch when it’s 65 degrees.”
• “Fall is that magical time when I buy a sweater because it’s 68 degrees in the morning and regret it by lunchtime.”
• “I’m ready for fall. My closet and the weather just haven’t agreed on a start date.”

Inspirational Fall Quotes About Change and New Beginnings.

Fall is a reminder that change doesn’t always have to be something we dread. The trees let go of their leaves, the flowers fade, and somehow all that change can feel more like a fresh start than an ending.

• “Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” —Wallace Stegner
• “Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.” —Truman Capote

“The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.”

• “Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.” —Friedrich Nietzsche
• “The first breath of autumn was in the air, a prodigal feeling, a feeling of wanting, taking, and keeping before it was too late.” —J.L. Carr

• “I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift.” —Dodinsky
• “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” —Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” —Albert Camus

• “Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow.” —Dan Millman
• “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” —T.S. Eliot

Cozy Fall Quotes.

One of my favorite things about fall is how good it feels to be at home. Snugging in under a cozy throw, something warm in the oven, and an evening with nowhere to go sound better than just about anything.

• “It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.” —P.D. James
• “There is a particular kind of afternoon sun that exists only in autumn.” —Ayana Mathis

“Autumn is the season to find contentment at home by paying attention to what we already have.”

• “I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves.” —Ann Drake
• “Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year’s end and day’s beginnings.” —Terri Guillemets

• “October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.” —John Sinor
• “Autumn is a season to enjoy the simple things: a warm drink, a cool day, and nowhere you have to be.”
• “A rainy fall afternoon is practically an invitation to stay home.”

“Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.” —Carol Bishop Hipps

• “It is in October that one tastes again the delights of the fireside, and finds them to be even more attractive than one had remembered.” —A.A. Milne
• “I have tasted fall, it is a warm cup of tea, too quickly it cools.” —Auralee Wallace
• “October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup.” —Rainbow Rowell

Fall Leaves & Autumn Nature Quotes.

Even though I may have to travel a little to see truly spectacular fall color, there’s nothing quite like a landscape covered in red, orange, and gold. These quotes celebrate the leaves, trees, and changing scenery that put on fall’s best show.

• “Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.” —Delia Owens
• “Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.” —William Wordsworth
• “Come said the wind to the leaves one day, Come o’er the meadows and we will play: Put on your dresses of red and gold, For summer is gone and the days grow cold.” —George Cooper

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” —Emily Bronte

• “The falling leaves drift by the window, the autumn leaves of red and gold.” —Johnny Mercer
• “There is music in the meadows. And the lands a-singing; There is music in the trees.” —William Bliss Carman
• “A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.” —Hal Borland

• “How beautifully the leaves grow old! How full of light and color are their last days!” —John Burroughs
• “The trees are in their autumn beauty, the woodland paths are dry.” —W.B. Yeats
• “The leaves fall patiently. Nothing remembers or grieves. The river takes to the sea. The yellow drift of leaves.” —Sara Teasdale
• “October’s poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter.” —Nova Bair

“The heart of autumn must have broken here, and poured its treasure upon the leaves.” —Charlotte Fiske Bates

• “The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry of bugles going by.” —Bliss Carman
• “A fallen leaf is nothing more than a summer’s wave goodbye.”
• “And myriad leaves, on which the Summer wrote her blushing farewell, at my feet were strown.” —Albert Laighton

Pumpkin & Harvest Quotes and Sayings.

It wouldn’t really feel like fall without pumpkins piled on porches, apples at the market, and all those warm flavors that suddenly sound good again. Whether you’re headed to the pumpkin patch or baking a delicious apple pie, these quotes and sayings celebrate the harvest side of the season.

• “The breezes taste of apple peel. The air is full of smells to feel.” —John Updike
• “I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” —Henry David Thoreau
• “The pumpkin is a uniquely American plant, widely regarded as one of the most magical plants in all the world.” —Seth Adam Smith

“What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye? What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie?” —John Greenleaf Whittier

• “Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the orchard.” —Walt Whitman
• “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” —William Blake
• “The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.” —Psalm 85:12, NIV

• “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.” —Linus, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
• “It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.” —B.C. Forbes
• “Shedding late-summer tears for the end of cherry season. Patiently and hopefully waiting for pumpkin pie season.” —Terri Guillemets

“The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider.” —Jane Hirshfield

• “Autumn skies and pumpkin pies.”
• “There’s always room for one more pumpkin.”
• “Pumpkin patches are proof that good things come in all shapes and sizes.”

Hello Fall & First Day of Fall Quotes.

After waiting through the heat of summer, the first day of fall always feels worth celebrating, even if the weather isn’t quite cooperating yet. These hello fall quotes and sayings are perfect for welcoming the season we’ve been waiting for.

• “September tries its best to have us forget summer.” —Bernard Williams
• “Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day.” —Elizabeth Bowen
• “September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours, but in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn.” —Rowland E. Robinson

“There is something so special in the early leaves drifting from the trees—as if we are all to be allowed a chance to peel, to refresh, to start again.” —Ruth Ahmed

• “September is dressing herself in showy dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes
• “Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul.” —Peggy Toney Horton
• “Summer, you were fun. But I’ve got pumpkins to put out.”

• “Hello fall. I’ve been waiting for you.”
• “Welcome fall. Stay as long as you like.”
• “Fall is officially here. Now if someone could just tell the temperature.”
• “Hello fall. Bring on the cool mornings, colorful leaves, and cozy evenings.”

“The first day of fall is here, and I’ve been ready since July.”

• “Fall has arrived. At least according to the calendar.”
• “And just like that, it’s fall.”
• “Here’s to the first cool morning, the first pot of soup, and the first pumpkin on the porch.”

October Quotes.

If September is the promise of fall, October is when it really shows off. The cooler days, changing leaves, and that unmistakable October light make this month feel like fall at its very best.

• “October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen.” —Hal Borland
• “October’s the month when the smallest breeze gives us a shower of autumn leaves.” —Hal Borland
• “The sweet calm sunshine of October, now warms the low spot; upon its grassy mould the purple oak-leaf falls.” —William Cullen Bryant

“October is a hallelujah! reverberating in my body year-round.” —John Nichols

• “The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here’s to October.” —A.A. Milne
• “October is the month for painted leaves.” —Henry David Thoreau

• “October is the treasure of the year, and all the months pay bounty to her store.” —Paul Laurence Dunbar
• “October gave a party; the leaves by hundreds came.” —George Cooper

“October is a fine and dangerous season in America. A wonderful time to begin anything at all.” —Thomas Merton

• “October turned my maple’s leaves to gold; the most are gone now; here and there one lingers.” —Thomas Bailey Aldrich
• “October is the opal month of the year. It is the month of glory, of ripeness.” —Henry Ward Beecher
• “After the keen still days of September, the October sun filled the earth with mellow warmth.” —Elizabeth George Speare

Fall Quotes for Letter Boards, Signs & Home Decor.

Sometimes all it takes is a few words on a letter board or chalkboard to bring a little more fall into the house. These short fall sayings are perfect for signs in the kitchen, by the front door, or anywhere that could use a little seasonal personality.

• “Hello, fall.”
• “Fall is in the air.”
• “Sweater weather is better weather.”
• “Home is where the pumpkins are.”

“Leaves are falling, autumn is calling.”

• “Meet me at the pumpkin patch.”
• “Pumpkin kisses and harvest wishes.”
• “Hello, pumpkin.”
• “Fall sweet fall.”
• “Gather here.”

• “Happy fall, y’all.”
• “Give thanks in all circumstances.” —1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV
• “Gather here with grateful hearts.”
• “Cozy up and stay awhile.”
• “Hello, sweater weather.”

“But I think I love fall most of all.”

• “Thankful, grateful, blessed.”
• “Pumpkin spice and everything nice.”
• “Welcome to our patch.”
• “Gather. Give thanks. Eat pie.”
• “Welcome, fall.”

Fall Instagram Captions.

The perfect fall photo sometimes needs a little help in the social media caption department. From pumpkin patches and colorful leaves to that first glorious sweater day, these fall Instagram captions are ready to go.

• Fall looks good on you.
• Chasing fall colors.
• Meet me under the falling leaves.
• Caught somewhere between summer and sweater weather.
• Golden days ahead.
• Falling for this season.
• Soaking up every bit of fall.
• Just pretending I didn’t buy another pumpkin.
• Wearing a sweater because the calendar says I can.
• I like long walks through the seasonal aisle.
• Bought one pumpkin. Said no one ever.

• My fall wardrobe was ready before the weather was.
• It’s finally cool enough to drink the hot coffee I’ve been ordering anyway.
• Pumpkin patch kind of day.
• Picked a good one.
• Proof I actually left the house for fall.
• Apple picking and memory making.
• Taking fall one pretty day at a time.
• Taking the scenic route.
• Give me a cool evening and nowhere to be.
• Home is extra nice this time of year.
• This is what I waited all summer for.
• Trying to fit an entire season into one weekend.
• BRB, making the most of fall while it lasts.

Southern Fall Sayings.

Fall in the South requires a little imagination. We may be putting pumpkins on the porch while it’s still 90 degrees outside, but that has never stopped us from celebrating the season anyway. Around here, fall means college football, something good simmering on the stove, and waiting patiently for that first morning that actually feels cool.

• “Southern fall is when the porch looks like October and the weather still feels like August.”
• “Fall in the South: when you dress for all four seasons before lunchtime.”
• “It’s fall, according to the calendar if not the thermometer.”

“You know it’s fall in the South when the pumpkins are out but the air conditioner is still running.”

• “In the South, sweater weather is more of a suggestion.”
• “Fall is porch weather we’ve been waiting all summer for.”
• “Southern fall is sweet tea in the afternoon and chili for supper.”

• “Around here, fall officially starts when college football does.”
• “Southern fall: brought to you by pumpkins, football, and a very optimistic sweater.”
• “Fall in the South is a little bit summer and a whole lot of wishful thinking.”

“The first cool morning after a Southern summer deserves its own celebration.”

• “Mums on the porch, football on the TV, and something good in the oven. Must be fall.”
• “The leaves may not cooperate, but the pumpkins will.”
• “Down South, we don’t always get much fall, so we make the most of the little bit we get.”

Make the Most of Fall While It’s Here.

There’s something about fall that makes me want to slow down and appreciate the change. Maybe it’s because the season doesn’t stick around very long, or maybe it’s just that everything about it feels a little more special after a long, brutally hot summer. I hope a few of these quotes put you in the mood to enjoy fall to the fullest too.

I know I will. I’m going to put out too many pumpkins, light my favorite fall candle, make a carby comfort food dinner, and spend as much time outside as I can while the weather is perfect.

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