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This is the fifth installment in our twelve-part A Year Outstanding series, where we share quotes, affirmations, and interesting facts to inspire your outstanding inner self every month of the year.
It can be hard to believe, but the month of May is already upon us! Spring is truly in the air and, with the pandemic appearing to be in remission, it really does feel as though the world is finally beginning to awaken after a long slumber.
In any year, May is a month of new beginnings, as we bid adieu to the school year or the baggage we carried from the winter, and welcome the vibrant summer ahead.
To keep you inspired and motivated this month, here are the top quotes and interesting facts we’ve been able to find about the incredible month of May.
May Quotes About New Beginnings
Make hay in May for you may never know what June is coming with and you may never know what July will present! When you see May, make hay! — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
As full of spirit as the month of May, and as gorgeous as the sun in Midsummer. — William Shakespeare
I’m only wishing to go a-fishing. For this, the month of May was made. — Henry Van Dyke
May, more than any other month of the year, wants us to feel most alive. — Fennel Hudson
At last came the golden month of the wild folk—honey-sweet May, when the birds come back, and the flowers come out, and the air is full of the sunrise scents and songs of the dawning year. ― Samuel Scoville Jr.
May has decked the world, that we May bring the brave on land or sea Earth’s glory on Memorial Day, The lovely meadow gifts of May. — Annette Wynne
Among the changing months, May stands confest the sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed. — James Thomson
Make hay in May for you may never know what June is coming with and you may never know what July will present! When you see May, make hay! ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
May Quotes About Spring
It was outdoor detail – and May is one fine month to be working outdoors. — Stephen King
When the sun is out and the wind is still, / You’re one month on in the middle of May. — Robert Frost
And after winter folweth grene May. — Geoffrey Chaucer
Ah, in those earliest days of love how naturally the kisses spring into life! So closely, in their profusion, do they crowd together that lovers would find it as hard to count the kisses exchanged in an hour as to count the flowers in a meadow in May. — Marcel Proust
I thought that spring must last forevermore; for I was young and loved, and it was May. — Vera Brittain
Horticulturally, the month of May is opening night, homecoming and graduation day all rolled into one. — Tam Mossman
Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness. — Karen Joy Fowler
You are as welcome as the flowers in May. — Charles Macklin
Tis a month before the month of May, And the spring comes slowly up this way. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
May: the lilacs are in bloom. Forget yourself. — Marty Rubin
In the marvelous month of May when all the buds were bursting, then in my heart did love arise. In the marvelous month of May when all the birds were singing, then did I reveal to her my yearning and longing. — Heinrich Heine
The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May. — Edwin Way Teale
May… It’s full of all the things that make spring and the brighter part of the year so special. Flowers bud, the sun shines, and new seeds are sown into the fabric of our lives. May is awesome. ― Jenna Danchuk
The month of May comes differently in cities: not for us white blossom on the hedgerows, bluebells in the woods – instead the sun’s rays burnish bricks and mellow pavements; seeds burst into flower in the cracks between the stones; speedwell and bindweed bloom among the rubble. — Heidi Thomas
Queer things happen in the garden in May. Little faces forgotten appear, and plants thought to be dead suddenly wave a green hand to confound you. — W. E. Johns
May is green and pink and red. — Richard L. Ratliff
Another May new buds and flowers shall bring: Ah! why has happiness no second Spring? — Charlotte Smith
The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May. — Edwin Way Teale
By May, most of the harshness of winter has passed. The sky is bright, and warm sunshine filters through the new leaves on the trees. — Ellen Jackson
The month of May is the pleasant time; its face is beautiful; the blackbird sings his full song, the living wood is his holding, the cuckoos are singing and ever singing; there is a welcome before the brightness of the summer. — Lady Gregory
May can be a month of sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny noses. — Ellen Jackson
May is the most beautiful month of the year, a month alive with warmth color.The flowers and trees are in full bloom and even the sun joins this rhapsody be emitting warmer rays. — Lillian Berliner
May means long walks in the evenings, eating outside in the garden(whenever possible) and lots of healthy, fresh salads to use up all the lovely summer veg that’s available. — Sophie Morris
In the month of May fell many great showers of rain. — Robin Robbins
May Quotes About Joy
Let all thy joys be as the month of May, And all thy days be as a marriage day. — Francis Quarles
The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit. — Thomas Malory
As it fell upon a day In the merry month of May, sitting in a pleasant shade which a grove of myrtles made. ― Richard Barnfield
It is now May… It is the month wherein Nature hath her fill of mirth, and the senses are filled with delights. I conclude, it is from the Heavens a grace, and to Earth a gladness. — Nicholas Breton
May Quotes About May Day
May day is a great time to plan or put on a Spring Festival for parents. Students can sing their favorite songs, recite poems and perform the Maypole dance. — Elizabeth Cole Midgley
A great difference between May and Day is the M and D! Be a good Managing Director of your life each day in May. — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
May Quotes About Easter
May on the contrary belongs to the Easter season, which lasts fifty days, and in that season the whole of May commonly falls, and the first half always. — Cardinal John Henry Newman
Therefore all ye that be lovers call unto your remembrance the month of May, like as did Queen Guenevere, for whom I make here a little mention, that while she lived she was a true lover, and therefore she had a good end. — Le Morte D’ Arthur
May Poems
Beneath the apple blossoms
I go a wintry way,
For love that smiled in April
Is false to me in May.
— Sara Teasdale
May is Mary’s month, and I
Muse at that and wonder why:
Her feasts follow reason,
Dated due to season
— Gerard Manley Hopkins
Oh, it was a merry, gladsome day,
When the April Fool met the Queen of May;
She had roguish eyes and golden hair,
And they were a mischief-making pair.
— Carolyn Wells
When April steps aside for May,
like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten;
fresh violets open every day;
to some new bird each hour we listen.
— Lucy Larcom
When purple finches sing and soar…
With vernal gladness running o’er—
When joys like these salute the sense…
Then waiting long hath recompense,
And all the world is glad with May.
― John Burroughs
Oh to have you in May,
To talk with you under the trees,
Dreaming throughout the day,
Drinking the wine-like breeze.
— Paul Laurence Dunbar
He wrote her name in the sand
Never even let go of her hand
Somehow they stayed that way
For those five days in May.
— James Cuddy and Greg Keelor
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
— William Shakespeare
The flowers that should bloom in the month of May
Every one of them came on an April day!
And they looked for April showers in vain,
But all through May it did nothing but rain!
— Carolyn Well
If I go with you, if I go a-maying,
To be your Queen and wear my crown this May-day bright,
Hand in hand straying, it must be only playing,
And playtime ends at sunset, and then good-night.
— Edith Nesbit
It’s May, the lusty month of May
That darling month when everyone throws self-control away.
— Alan Jay Lerner
What potent blood hath modest May. — Ralph W. Emerson
May and June. Soft syllables, gentle names for the two best months in the garden year: cool, misty mornings gently burned away with a warming spring sun, followed by breezy afternoons and chilly nights. The discussion of philosophy is over; it’s time for work to begin. — Peter Loewer
What is so sweet and dear
As a prosperous morn in May,
The confident prime of the day.
— William Watson
Sweet May hath come to love us,
Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;
And through the blue heavens above us
The very clouds move on.
— Heinrich Heine
And a bird overhead sang Follow,
And a bird to the right sang Here;
And the arch of the leaves was hollow,
And the meaning of May was clear.
― Algernon Charles Swinburne
I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers:
Of April, May, or June, and July flowers.
I sing of Maypoles, Hock-carts, wassails, wakes,
Of bridegrooms, brides, and of the bridal cakes.
— Robert Herrick
May! Queen of blossoms,
And fulfilling flowers,
With what pretty music
Shall we charm the hours?
— Lord Edward Thurlow
Winds of May, that dance on the sea,
Dancing a ring-around in glee
From furrow to furrow, while overhead
The foam flies up to be garlanded.
— James Joyce
In the marvelous month of May
when all the birds were singing,
then did I reveal to her
my yearning and longing.
— Henirich Heine
Step aside to a brand new day, in the month of May I feel, I can start again. Life is feeling new, This is hope, this is love, this is where we all won, if you call, I will hear, I will listen for you. — Mychal Simka
Interesting Facts About May
May’s birthstone is the emerald.
May’s Zodiac signs are Taurus (until May 20) and Gemini (starting May 21).
May’s birth flower is the Lily of the Valley.
May was named after Maia, the Greek goddess of fertility.
No other month ever begins or ends on the same day of the week as May does.
May is the month of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, and spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
Historical Moments in May
May 1, 1931 — The Empire State Building officially opens in New York City. (Wikipedia)
May 11, 1858 — Minnesota becomes the 32nd U.S. state. (Wikipedia)
May 14, 1804 — Lewis and Clark began their famous expedition along the Missouri River. (Wikipedia)
May 15, 1918 — The first regular airmail service in the United States begins. (Wikipedia)
May 20, 1873 — Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtain the patent for their invention of blue jeans. (Wikipedia)
May 20, 1932 — Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight. (Wikipedia)
May 23, 1788 — South Carolina becomes the 8th U.S. state. (Wikipedia)
May 24, 1607 — The first English settlement in America is established in Jamestown, Virginia. (Wikipedia)
May 27, 1937 — The Golden Gate Bridge officially opens in San Francisco. (Wikipedia)
May 29, 1790 — Rhode Island becomes the 13th U.S. state. (Wikipedia)
May 29, 1848 — Wisconsin becomes the 30th U.S. state. (Wikipedia)
Famous May Birthdays
Calamity Jane — May 1, 1852
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — May 2, 1972
Catherine the Great — May 2, 1729
David Beckham — May 2, 1975
Audrey Hepburn — May 4, 1929
Adele — May 5, 1988
George Clooney — May 6, 1961
Rob Gronkowski — May 14, 1989
Anna Jameson — May 19, 1794
Cher — May 20, 1946
Notorious B.I.G. — May 21, 1972
Bob Dylan — May 24, 1941
Queen Victoria — May 24, 1819
Bob Hope — May 29, 1903
Holidays in May
May 1 — May Day
Celebrated either on May 1st or the first Monday of May, depending on where you live, May Day is a centuries-old celebration marking the first day of summer. Note: Today, we observe the first day of summer in June, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep celebrating May Day! (Wikipedia)
May 5 — Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is celebrated all over North America, but it was originally established in Mexico to commemorate the country’s 1862 victory over the French Empire. (Wikipedia)
May 9 — Mother’s Day
I hope you marked this one on your calendar! Mother’s Day is a global celebration of mothers, the work they do, the sacrifices they make, and the influence they have on our society. Most people in the world observe Mother’s Day by reminding their own mothers how much they appreciate all they’ve done for them. (Wikipedia)
May 31 — Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a US Holiday commemorating the lives of service men and women who died while serving in the US Armed Forces. As a federal holiday, most banks, businesses, and schools close in its observance. As such, Memorial Day Weekend is a popular vacation time for families and friends all over the United States. (Wikipedia)
