Weather is supposedly humanity’s most discussed topic and when we look at the effect it has across a wide variety of human affairs, this is hardly surprising. And up until the emergence of climate change as a public issue, weather was also one of the few “neutral” topics available for general discussion.
A summer thunderstorm produces shafts of rain across the countryside
(Image from Wikipedia Commons – click to enlarge)
If you meet a stranger it’s usually poor form to attempt a discussion on religion or politics, but the weather is normally a safe area; people often have definite ideas on the topic but without being offended by a differing view.
As a result, many of the great minds of the past and present have offered their views on the weather, often in a humorous and witty manner greatly enjoyed by meteorologists. Here are a few examples:
“Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.” - Terri Guillemets
“The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.”
- Kin Hubbard
Mark Twain in his latter years – 1907
(Image from Wikipedia Commons – click to enlarge)
“It is best to read the weather forecast before praying for rain.”
- Mark Twain
"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."
- Mark Twain
“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.”
“No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather”.
- Michael Pritchard
“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.”
- Patrick Young
“Conversation may be compared to a lyre with seven chords - philosophy, art, poetry, love, scandal, and the weather.”
“Change of weather is the discourse of fools.”
Photograph of Oscar Wilde taken in 1882
(Image from Wikipedia Commons – click to enlarge)
“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”
“If I'm on the course and lightning starts, I get inside fast. If God
wants to play through, let him”
– Bob Hope
Bob Hope entertains the military in 1990 – with his golf club
(Image from Wikipedia Commons – click to enlarge)
With the emergence of the somewhat more controversial issue of climate change, perhaps a similar reservoir of insight and wit on this topic will be gradually taken up by our modern day philosophers and observers.
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