Some Thoughts About Butterflies



Two butterflies went out at noon
And waltzed above a stream,
Then stepped straight through the firmament
And rested on a beam;

And then together bore away
Upon a shining sea,--
Though never yet, in any port
Their coming mentioned be.

If spoken by the distant bird,
If met in ether sea
By frigate or by merchantman,
Report was not to me.

--Emily Dickinson, Two Butterflies



I only ask to be free.  The butterflies are free.

--Charles Dickens, Bleak House



It is eternity now.  I am in the midst of it.  It is about me in the
sunshine; I am in it, as the butterfly in the light-laden air.  Nothing
has to come; it is now.  Now is eternity; now is the immortal life.

--Richard Jefferies, The Story of My Heart



Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly ... Suddenly I awoke ... 
Now, I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or
whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man

--Chuang Tzu, On Leveling All Things
(Found among many other quotations compiled here)