The ripest peach is highest on the tree.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- This proverb suggests that the best or most developed items are often the hardest to reach.
- In plain terms
- The best things are the ones that take the most effort to get.
- What can you take from it?
- Strive for the highest goals even if they are difficult.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is the best always worth the climb?
- How do you measure ripeness?
Another view
It ignores that not all high things are good or worth it.
More from James Whitcomb Riley
O'er folded blooms On swirls of musk, The beetle booms adown the glooms And bumps along the dusk.
Permalink to quote #2 One naked star has waded through The purple shadows of the night, And faltering as falls the dew It drips its misty light.
Permalink to quote #3 An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you don't watch out.
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
Type of the wise who soar, but never roam; True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!
William WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth quote #74 Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.
An WangAn Wang quote #1 We should therefore, with grace and optimism, embrace NOMA's tough-minded demand: Acknowledge the personal character of these human struggles about morals and …
Stephen Jay GouldStephen Jay Gould quote #1