70 Bear Quotes: A Tribute to These Majestic Creatures

While bears are terrifying creatures, they are also quite adorable, fiercely protective of their family, and have high intelligence. Read the following 67 quotes to find out more about these complex beasts.

Bears are spread throughout the globe, in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America, out of which there are eight species. As many know, they hibernate in the wintertime.

Some bears can go for around three months during this period without food or water. Mother bears also give birth to their cubs during this season. As summer approaches, they rise out of their massive slumber, once again leaving us in awe of their majestic beauty.

Read the following 67 quotes to learn more about these beautiful animals.

James Rollins’ quote: "Always respect Mother Nature. Especially when she weighs 400 pounds and is guarding her baby." | Image: AmoDays

Quotes on the Beauty of Bears and Respect for Them

"Bears are not companions of men, but children of God." — Charles Muir

"It would be fitting, I think, if among the last manmade tracks on earth would be found the huge footprints of the great brown bear." — Earl Fleming

"The grizzly is a symbol of what is right with the world." — Charles Jonkel

"The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them." — Margaret Atwood

"Always respect Mother Nature. Especially when she weighs 400 pounds and is guarding her baby." — James Rollins

Charles Muir’s quote: "Bears are not companions of men, but children of God." | Image: AmoDays

"Bears, with their great size and strength, remind us of how weak and ineffectual we are as organisms: a bear, even a small one, could abolish a human fairly easily." — Charles Fergus

Factual Quotes about Bears

"While bears don't live in established groups or obey rigid hierarchies as chimps and wolves do, they have amazingly complex social relationships." — Benjamin Kilham

"Some of these calves are just a week or two old, and they're easy pickings for bears and wolves." — Stephen Judson

"Bears project a mighty physical presence and a capacity for action. They are smart, something that often becomes apparent the moment you come face-to-face with one." — Charles Fergus

"Bears typically hibernate through the winter, so late autumn is crucial in terms of their survival." — Geoffrey Luck

Benjamin Kilham’s quote: "While bears don't live in established groups or obey rigid hierarchies as chimps and wolves do, they have amazingly complex social relationships." | Image: AmoDays

"Bears, it turns out, are a lot like humans. They form alliances with strangers, they make calculations about relative costs and benefits, they lay down rules and punish those who break them." ― Benjamin Kilham

"All of the authoritative books on bears seem to agree on one thing: if you're close enough to a bear to cause it to change its activity pattern, you're too close and in possible danger." ― Dennis R. Blanchard

"Bears are masters of survival." — Catherine Lukas

"Bears look like they might be slow because they have short legs and large feet. However, some kinds can move very quickly!" — Therese M. Shea

"Aggression in bears can be and often is a stepping stone to friendship. Friendship and alliances frequently develop by repeated interactions, with initial aggression that lessens over time." ― Benjamin Kilham

Benjamin Kilham’s quote: “Bears, it turns out, are a lot like humans. They form alliances with strangers, they make calculations about relative costs and benefits, they lay down rules and punish those who break them." | Image: AmoDays

“Bears are sort of like people. They sit and stand like people do. They use their paws like hands. Bears eat vegetables, meats, and sweets." — Diana Star Helmer

Quotes on Bears and Spirituality

"The gypsies believe the bear to be a brother to man because he has the same body beneath his hide... because he enjoys music, and because he likes to dance." — Ernest Hemingway

"As the animal that, perhaps more than any other, embodied the pagan concept of a kinship between man and nature, the bear plays." — Bernd Brunner

"Those who have packed far up into grizzly country know that the presence of even one grizzly on the land elevates the mountains, deepens the canyons, chills the winds, brightens the stars, darkens the forest, and quickens the pulse of all who enter it. They know that when a bear dies, something sacred in every living thing interconnected with that realm… also dies." — John Murray

"People probably have revered bears for as long as we have interacted with them. And while bear worship is not a part of most modern religions, it is natural for us—even those of us who have never seen a bear—to be awed by such magnificent and formidable creatures." — Charles Fergus

Ernest Hemingway’s quote: "The gypsies believe the bear to be a brother to man because he has the same body beneath his hide, because he drinks beer, because he enjoys music and because he likes to dance." | Image: AmoDays

"The many surviving stories about bears reveal the variety of roles that they have played in the human imagination, from enemies of mankind to their protective spirits." — Bernd Brunner

"When you are where wild bears live, you learn to pay attention to the rhythm of the land and yourself." — Linda Jo Hunter

Funny and Cute Bear Quotes

"Bears rose to the top of the food chain solely so they could dedicate half their lives to sleep. It's the world's most intimidating power nap." — James Breakwell

"Care Bears, get ready to care, prepare to stare, stare there!" — Pino Van Lamsweerde

"A bear? No, bears are sweet! Besides, you ever see a bear with forty-foot feet?" — James Lapine

James Breakwell’s quote: "Bears rose to the top of the food chain solely so they could dedicate half their lives to sleep. It's the world's most intimidating power nap." | Image: AmoDays

"...the inherent adorableness of furry white bear cubs." ― Kieran Mulvaney

"This is a cold, stark world, but to polar bear mothers and cubs, it's paradise." ― Stephen Judson

"And maybe... you are a little fat bear cub with no wings, and no feathers." ― Else Holmelund Minarik

Kieran Mulvaney’s quote: "...the inherent adorableness of furry white bear cubs." | Image: AmoDays

"It is estimated that bears kill over two million salmon a year. Attacks by salmon on bears are much more rare." — Peter Gaulke

Quotes on Bears, Climate Change, Environmentalism, and Extinction

"If the human race is to survive, then we must respect the rights of other species to survive. Sharing bedroom space with a grizzly bear is not practical, but sharing wilderness space is. We must, therefore, restrict human activity in spaces where threatened or endangered species live. We must stay out of their bedroom. Set aside some wild spaces while they yet exist. Closing the wild spaces after all of the wild things are gone will not work." — Bob McMeans

"If we can learn to live with bears, especially the grizzly, and if we can learn to accommodate the needs of bears in their natural environment, then maybe we can also find ways to use the finite resources of our continent and still maintain some of the diversity and natural beauty that were here when Columbus arrived." — Stephen Herrero

"Alive, the grizzly is a symbol of freedom and understanding—a sign that man can learn to conserve what is left of the earth." — Frank Craighead

"When all the dangerous cliffs are fenced off, all the trees that might fall on people are cut down, all of the insects that bite have been poisoned, and all of the grizzlies are dead because they are occasionally dangerous, the wilderness will not be made safe. Rather, the safety will have destroyed the wilderness." — R.Yorke Edwards

Penny Lancaster’s quote: "I like the idea of going to see the ice caps and the polar bears because who knows how long they are going to be around for?" | Image: AmoDays

"The fate of bears in many areas of the world will be decided in the next 10-20 years. The future of several species is in serious doubt. The elimination of bears from 50-75% of their historic range has already occurred, and the remaining range will decrease unless serious efforts are focused on bear conservation." — Dr. Chris Servheen

"For humans, the Arctic is a harshly inhospitable place, but the conditions there are precisely what polar bears require to survive and thrive. 'Harsh' to us is 'home' for them. Take away the ice and snow, increase the temperature by even a little, and the realm that makes their lives possible literally melts away." — Sylvia Earle

"We need to save the Arctic, not because of the polar bears, and not because it is the most beautiful place in the world, but because our very survival depends upon it." — Lewis Gordon Pugh

"The grizzly bears that live in and around Yellowstone make up almost half the population in the lower 48 states, and now those bears are at risk." — Lydia Millet

"Bears keep me humble. They help me to keep the world in perspective and to understand where I fit on the spectrum of life. We need to preserve the wilderness and its monarchs for ourselves and for the dreams of children. We should fight for these things as if our life depended upon it because it does." — Wayne Lynch

Frank Craighead’s quote: "Alive, the grizzly is a symbol of freedom and understanding—a sign that man can learn to conserve what is left of the earth." | Image: AmoDays

"Historically, grizzlies ranged from Alaska to Mexico, with at least 50,000 bears living in the western half of the contiguous United States. With European colonization, the bears were shot, poisoned, and trapped to the brink of extinction." — Lydia Millet

"The Safari Club International has worked the legal system hard to try to keep polar bears threatened primarily by climate change, but also by hunting on the list of creatures people can import as trophies after shooting." — Lydia Millet

"I like the idea of going to see the ice caps and the polar bears because who knows how long they are going to be around for?" — Penny Lancaster

A Bunch of Bear Quotes for Animal Lovers

"Bears, I muttered, adding a new fear to the pile. That would be just her luck, wouldn't it? Stray bear in town. Of course, it would head straight for Bella." — Stephenie Meyer

Peter Gaulke’s quote: "It is estimated that bears kill over two million salmon a year. Attacks by salmon on bears are much more rare." | Image: AmoDays

"There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first—ranging from grizzly bears to 'mean' horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid, I gradually ceased to be afraid." — Theodore Roosevelt

"A bear knows all your secrets and keeps them." — Roseanne Brown

"I had to weave and play around with a honey bear, you know, and I could wrestle with him a little bit, but there's no way you can even wrestle a honey bear, let alone a grizzly bear that's standing ten feet to eleven feet tall!" — Leslie Nielsen

"He admired bears because everyone was afraid to disturb them while they slept, and fish were so in love with bears that they jumped right into their mouths." — Robb Todd

"The great attraction everywhere would be Simon Smith and his dancing bear. It's 'Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear.'" — Jim Henson

Else Holmelund Minarik’s quote: "And maybe... you are a little fat bear cub with no wings, and no feathers." | Image: AmoDays

"The Alaskan bears are a distinct species. Relegating grizzlies to Alaska is like relegating happiness to heaven; one may never get there." — Aldo Leopold

"In some tales, humans became bears as a result of unfortunate tree—climbing episodes." — Bernd Brunner

“Bears need people. People need bears." — Pam Brown

"There's no bear like an old bear." — Samantha Armstrong

"Never sell the bear's skin before one has killed the beast." — Jean de La Fontaine

Diana Star Helmer's quote: “Bears are sort of like people. They sit and stand like people do. They use their paws like hands. Bears eat vegetables, meats, and sweets." | Image: AmoDays

"Bears are extremely human, even down to their footprints. But I am also a fly fisherman, so I have fished beside brown bears in Alaska and was once charged by a black bear. I love bears." — Joseph Monninger

"Bears not only make the habitat rich, but they also enrich us just by being." — Linda Jo Hunter

"Clever bears think of everything." — Randal Case

"Oh well, bears will be bears." ― Michael Bond

Bernd Brunner’s quote: "The idea that people were related to bears played an important role not only in North America but in Europe and Asia as well." | Image: AmoDays

"The bear, he says, is many animals in one. Like a lion, he downs mammals much bigger than he; like any ruminant, he pillages crops; he steals grapes and fruit like a monkey; nibbles on berries like a blackbird; plunders anthills and beehives like a woodpecker; digs up tubers and larvae like a pig; and catches fish with the dexterity of an otter. And he eats honey like a man." ― Paolo Rumiz

"Bears, with their great size and strength, remind us of how weak and ineffectual we are as organisms: a bear, even a small one, could abolish a human fairly easily." — Charles Fergus

"The cell phone has become the adult's transitional object, replacing the toddler's teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging." — Margaret Heffernan

"Haven't you ever thought of living unconsciously like bears, sniffing the earth, close to pears and the mossy dark, far from human voices and fire?" — Nâzım Hikmet

"Are people more important than the grizzly bear? Only from the point of view of some people." — Edward Abbey

Aime Cesaire’s quote: "A man screaming is not a dancing bear. Life is not a spectacle." | Image: AmoDays

"Bears need people. People need bears." — Pam Brown

"Once a bear has been loved by a human being, its expression is forever marked." — Jama Kim Rattigan

"The idea that people were related to bears played an important role not only in North America but in Europe and Asia as well." — Bernd Brunner

"A man screaming is not a dancing bear. Life is not a spectacle." ― Aime Cesaire

"Bears remind us of ourselves. They walk on the flats of their feet, as people do." — Charles Fergus

Charles Jonkel’s quote: "The grizzly is a symbol of what is right with the world." | Image: AmoDays

Bears are extremely smart, with exceptional navigation skills as well as intricate personal relationships with one another. These animals can grieve for other bears with which they are close.

They will go out of their way, putting themselves in harm's way to protect a family member. To learn more about another beautiful creature, read these 69 peacock quotes.