Ducks are known to be symbols of balance, adaptation, and strength, and this collection of the top 110 duck quotes will surely show you why!
Ducks are some of the most common types of birds we can find in the world. They’re in our local ponds and parks, and we may even see them every day in restaurants.
However, have you really even thought about the different symbolisms and life lessons we can get from them?
This list will teach you about their compelling traits, and there are also quite a few words of wisdom we can pick up along the way.
Let’s get started.
And make sure to read our collection of bird quotes and flamingo quotes too.
Best Duck Quotes
1. “Like a duck on the pond, on the surface, everything looks calm; but beneath the water, those little feet are churning a mile a minute.” – Gene Hackman
2. “When the ducks are walking, you know it’s too windy to play golf.” – Dave Stockton
3. “Ducks are strong, fast flyers.” – Randy Frahm
4. “If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it could be a really ugly swan.” – Timothy Radman
5. “I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it.” – George Foreman
6. “Small men oft feel a need to prove their courage with unseemly boasts. I doubt if he could kill a duck.” – George R.R. Martin
7. “Ducks are one of the smallest types of waterfowl—often the most colorful.” – Stephen Savage
8. “Be like a duck, paddling and working very hard inside the water, but what everyone sees is a smiling and calm face.” – Manoj Arora
9. “Because human beings suffer so much more than ducks.” – Michel Faber
Famous Quotes About Ducks
10. “Duck love is recognizable in any language.” – Edmund Manning
11. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease but the quacking duck gets shot.” – Carl Sandburg
12. “If you should rear a duck in the heart of the Sahara, no doubt it would swim if you brought it to the Nile.” – Mark Twain
13. “Four ducks on a pond, a grass-bank beyond, a blue sky of spring, white clouds on the wing—what a little thing to remember for years, to remember with tears!” – William Allingham
14. “A healthy duck will be bright and will try to get away from people.” – Nyiri Murtagh
15. “The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.” – Ernest Hemingway
16. “It is to be regretted that domestication has seriously deteriorated the moral character of the duck. In a wild state, he is a faithful husband, but no sooner is he domesticated than he becomes polygamous, and makes nothing of owning ten or a dozen wives at a time.” – Isabella Beeton
17. “The popularity of ducks— often described as the happiest animals in the barnyard—is increasing in many areas of the world.” – Dave Holderread
18. “For me to go to America—which I find such a positive place—well, I took to it like a duck to water.” – Victoria Beckham
19. “I get a lot of letters. Not only from children, but from adults, too. Almost every week, every month, clippings come in from some part of the world where ducks are crossing the street.” – Robert McCloskey
20. “To begin cooking duck at one in the morning is one of the finest acts of madness that can be undertaken by a human being who is not mad.” – Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
21. “What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?” – J. K. Rowling
22. “Man who waits for a roast duck to fly into mouth must wait a very, very long time.” – Jules Renard
23. “When Donald Duck traded his wings for arms, was he trading up or trading down?” – Douglas Coupland
24. “He was so benevolent, so merciful a man that, in his mistaken passion, he would have held an umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain.” – Douglas William Jerrold
Wise Duck Quotes
25. “Always behave like a duck—keep calm and unruffled on the surface, but paddle like the devil underneath.” – Jacob Braude
26. “How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.” – Dorothy L. Sayers
27. “No matter how organized your ducks are, life can turn in two seconds. So, you can’t keep on waiting. Because if you keep on waiting, it’s gone.” – Diem Brown
28. “To listen is an effort, and just to hear is of no merit. A duck hears also.” – Igor Stravinsky
29. “If you keep your feathers well oiled, the water of criticism will run off as from a duck’s back.” – Ellen Swallow Richards
30. “Poetry is a sky dark with a wild-duck migration.” – Carl Sandburg
31. “A new duck may be dirty because it soiled itself on the way home.” – Nyiri Murtagh
32. “The egg laid by the duck is sometimes hatched by the hen.” – Malaysian Proverb
33. “Painting is sometimes like those recipes where you do all manner of elaborate things to a duck, and then end up putting it on one side and only using the skin.” – Lucian Freud
34. “A duck can see nearly all the way around without even turning its head; and yes, they see in complete color.” – Heather Carver
Inspiring and Meaningful Duck Quotes
35. “I don’t have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turn into confident ducks.” – Maeve Binchy
36. “Popularity should be no scale for the election of politicians. If it would depend on popularity, Donald Duck and The Muppets would take seats in the senate.” – Orson Welles
37. “A duck call in the hands of the unskilled is one of conservation’s greatest assets.” – Nash Buckingham
38. “Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?” – Rhodri Morgan
39. “You learn real early to make a film and then duck, and basically that’s how I go about it.” – Alan Rudolph
40. “In their writhings, a little like two ducks, one of which is trying to make a third duck inside the second duck, the second duck is trying to explain that it doesn’t feel ready for a third duck right now.” – Douglas Adams
41. “All along the backwater, through the rushes tall, ducks are a-dabbling, up tails all!” – Kenneth Grahame
42. “The duck swallows the worm, the fox kills the duck, the men shoot the fox, and the devil hunts the men.” – Ken Follett
43. “If you’re too busy to duck hunt or catch fish, then you’re too busy.” – Jase Robertson
44. “My motto is water off a duck’s back. Meaning, don’t let negativity weigh you down, perpetuate positive thinking.” – Jinkx Monsoon
45. “Tuck in your tail, little duck.” – Suzanne Collins
46. “I took the process of doing as much myself as I could, like a duck to water. I set up my own label and publishing, and it was a fun learning curve two decades ago.” – David Knopfler
47. “Probably nature itself gave man the ability to lie so that in difficult and tense moments he could protect his nest, just as do the vixen and wild duck.” – Anton Chekhov
48. “I’ve always looked upon the ducks as caricatures of human beings. Perhaps I’ve been writing for years in that middle world that J.R.R. Tolkien describes, and never knew it.” – Carl Barks
49. “I am still friends with Dave Crosby. He’s a weird duck, but I like him a lot.” – Peter Tork
Duck Quotes on Life and Success
50. “An optimist is someone who figures that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s the bluebird of happiness.” – Robert Breault
51. “I don’t think you’re happier if you’re thin, or beautiful, or rich, or married. You have to make your own happiness.” – Maeve Binchy
52. “You don’t have a snail problem, you have a duck deficiency.” – Bill Mollison
53. “Don’t be fooled. Looks can be deceptive. Like every working mother, I’m paddling away like a duck beneath the water.” – Katherine Keller
54. “When I see a bird that walks like a duck, and swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.” – James Whitcomb Riley
55. “Don’t quack like a duck, soar like an eagle.” – Ken Blanchard
56. “Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout, ‘Bang!’” – George Will
57. “My dear Mama, you are definitely the hen who hatched a famous duck.” – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
58. “If your woman picks your ducks, and she cooks and carries her Bible, now there’s the complete package of womanhood.” – Phil Robertson
59. “Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan’s egg.” – Hans Christian Andersen
Duck Quotes and Proverbs From Different Cultures
60. “Some birds avoid water, the duck searches for it.” – Hausan Proverb
61. “When the ducks are quacking the frogs take it as a warning.” – Malagasy Proverb
62. “Wild ducks and tomorrow both come without calling.” – Russian Proverb
63. “Eat vegetables and fear no creditors, rather than eat duck and hide.” – Yiddish Proverb
64. “A duck will not always dabble in the same gutter.” – Danish Proverb
65. “It’s natural for ducks to go barefoot.” – Irish Proverb
66. “If the world is flooded, it will be easy for the duck.” – Turkish Proverb
67. “If you see what the ducks eat then you eat no more duck.” – Native American Creole Proverb
68. “Ducks quack loudly before a rain.” – German Proverb
69. “The roast duck can fly no more.” – Chinese Proverb
Hilarious Duck Quotes
70. “Was that you or the duck?” – Groucho Marx
71. “Don’t take me under your wing and tell me that scent is duck sauce.” – Josh Stern
72. “Guy goes into a bar with a duck under his arm. Bartender says, ‘Where’d you get the pig?’ Guy says, ‘This is a duck.’ Bartender says, ‘I was talking to the duck.’” – Rodney Dangerfield
73. “Oh, and you accuse me of flattery! Here I waddle about like a fat old duck and you try to tell me I’m lovely.” – Robin Hobb
74. “Singing songs like ‘The Man I Love’ or ‘Porgy’ is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck.” – Billie Holiday
75. “I’m the lamest lame duck there could be.” – George C. Wallace
76. “A writer without a pen would be like a duck without water!” – Donovan
77. “Wiggle like a stick, wobble like a duck, that’s what you do when you do the Hucklebuck.” – Chubby Checker
78. “So I went to the Chinese restaurant and this duck came up to me with a red.” – Tim Vine
79. “It’s a bit like a fledgeling duck, finding your flippers.” – Martin Freeman
More Duck Quotes That Will Make You Laugh
80. “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck!” – Robin Cook
81. “I’ve always had a duck personality. Calm above water, feet going crazy below.” – K. Flay
82. “A duck tastes the same whether they’re shot sitting or flying.” – Jase Robertson
83. “I’m sorry for the ducks; I love foie gras.” – Jose Andres
84. “Christianity is why the ‘Duck Dynasty’ family is still together.” – Si Robertson
85. “Nature is a wet place where large numbers of ducks fly overhead uncooked.” – Oscar Wilde
86. “Let’s go see who can eat the most dumplings in the shortest amount of time. And duck! You really ought to try pressed duck! It’s a great delicacy.” – Cassandra Clare
87. “You can’t aim a duck to death.” – Beverly Sills
88. “I really hate rubber ducks, actually.” – Florentijn Hofman
89. “If your mother likes your drawing of a duck and hangs it on the refrigerator, that doesn’t mean it’s good.” – Michael Thomas Ford
Duck Quotes About Their Features and Characteristics
90. “Ducks are masterfully designed for both aquatic and terrestrial life.” – Dave Holderread
91. “During the Ming dynasty, the Pekin duck was already known as an outstanding breed with stable genetic characters.” – Peter Cherry
92. “The perils of duck hunting are great—especially for the duck.” – Walter Cronknite
93. “Ducks can make a highly effective pest patrol in the garden. Keep them from tender plants and low-growing fruit.” – Dave Holderread
94. “Unlike a deer, a duck can see you in color and from a very long way off. If you can see a duck, it can see you.” – Heather Carver
95. “Watching ducks land on a lake in Arkansas in the winter is about the closest to Heaven as you can find on this earth. And as someone who believes, according to my faith, I will go to Heaven when I die, I am pretty sure that there is duck hunting in Heaven!” – Mike Huckabee
96. “I have cats, dogs, monkeys and ducks at home—it’s like a mini zoo.” – Vani Kapoor
97. “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.” – Douglas Adams
98. “Paintings, mosaics, and other archaeological evidence, including duck bones excavated from middens at many locations in the Roman Empire, indicate that duck was eaten, probably on feast days and festivals.” – Peter Cherry
99. “Postponing happiness until ‘all your ducks are in order’ means never, because life is not that clean, fair, or predictable. It isn’t what happens to you that defines your life, it is what you do with it that does.” – Laura Schlessinger
Duck Quotes About Food and Delicious Cuisines
100. “The recipes I’d cooked as a child floated in my brain, like making succulent duck and cooking potatoes in duck fat—a standard in southwestern France.” – Samantha Verant
101. “They were perfect—crisp on the outside with a creamy interior, at once both salty and sweet from a double bath in boiling duck fat. Not exactly the healthiest of choices, but oh, it was worth it.” – Carla Laureano
102. “A simple roast duck, with an orange sauce, might be a good way to start.” – Rhys Bowen
103. “The dinner is delicious—the poivre sauce is perfect with the medium-rare duck, which cuts like butter.” – Hanna Muccouch
104. “Just look at that beastly duck cooking on my stove! How dare she!” – Roald Dahl
More Duck Quotes
105. “I can do a really good animal impression! I’m great at ducks, cats, dogs, and occasionally dolphins.” – Ella Purnell
106. “Jumping out a window five hundred feet above ground is not usually my idea of fun. Especially when I’m wearing bronze wings and flapping my arms like a duck.” – Rick Riordan
107.“I’m sure it’s why I’m such an odd duck in my feminist generation, because I’ve always been equally fair to men.” – Nancy Friday
108. “Mike Myers as Austin Powers makes me laugh—that was genius—and Daffy Duck makes me laugh, but I like odd behavior. I don’t like hip dialogue and one-liners and all that sort of cool, sophomoric comedy. It’s just not for me.” – Nicolas Cage
109. “And I like pygmy goats, because they’re just lovely, and ducks.” – Richard Hammond
110. “I love your duck with all its ducky goodness!” – Jade Puget
Do You Now See Ducks as More Than a Delicacy?
Ducks are almost everywhere—in ponds, parks, even in restaurants. They’re known to be a staple in French cuisine and foie gras is a duck product sought all over the world.
However, more than sustenance, ducks also teach us a lot about keeping stress away and being flexible. Their feathers are waterproof, allowing them to stay dry and warm even while they’re in water. This represents how, like ducks, we can also shake off every negative and stressful thing that comes our way.
What’s more, ducks teach us to be more flexible. Ducks can travel in three different ways—land, air, and water. Through this we learn that we can make use of our different faculties too, to adapt to different situations in life.
What else did you learn from this collection? Which quotes interested you the most? Share your thoughts down below.
