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Last Updated on April 18, 2023

INSIDE: Anyone who’s been to the Arizona desert knows the importance of the cactus! Here’s a list of Instagram cactus quotes–that work anywhere else too!

“The cactus is not a bad plant. It is just a beautiful plant with thorns”–Unknown

If you’ve spent time in Arizona (or even if you’ve just read about Arizona!) you know that the cactus is vital to the landscape. Heck, the silhouette of the saguaro cactus is even on the license plate! 🌵

But there’s more to a cactus than a symbol on a license plate.

When you live in the desert the cactus is a source of food, water, and even of shelter-well that last one mostly applies to small animals and birds. But still . . .

. . .in short, around these here parts, the cactus is a source of inspiration!

So if you’re feeling the need for a little desert-related word-smithing, here’s a list of Instagram cactus quotes–or anywhere else too. Use them when you need a little prickly push of motivation. 😉

Cactus Love Quotes

If you’re looking for cactus quotes for instagram, you can’t go wrong with the topic of love. There’s something about the conflict between the sweetness of love and the prickliness of a cactus that makes a terrific combination!

“A cactus is a desert’s rose.” Matshona Dhliwayo

“Be a cactus in a world of delicate flowers.” Unknown

“Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.” Leigh Bard Ugo

“Loving someone who doesn’t love you back is like hugging a cactus. The tighter you hold on, the more it’s going to hurt.” Unknown

“If you get struck by a cactus, consider it a cactus kiss. Because we all know Love hurts.” Jessica Anna Jones

“If one can see beauty in the strength of how a cactus blooms in the desert, they would see beauty in the thorns it displays.” Reena Sharma

“In the desert of my heart, you don’t need to blossom to like a cactus.” Richa

“If holding cactus can cure my pain, I would love to have it for whole life.” Anonymous

Read Next: Gorgeous Tucson Hikes in the Desert

Inspirational Cactus Quotes

Ah, those thorny cacti! They make a great metaphor for life, and can add a little “deep thinking” to your instagram cactus quotes. (Or you can just read them and enjoy!)

“Hope is not a resting place but a starting point: a cactus, not a cushion.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Reach for the stars, even if you have to stand on a cactus.” Unknown

“Very often, people are obsessed with what others think of them. It’s like if a flower wants to be a cactus or a palm but it’s not. A flower is a flower, and that’s enough. That’s all you have to do is be a flower.” Stjepan Hauser

After discovering this quote from Dorothy B. Hughes, I want to read her books!

“In a world full of flowers, be a cactus.” Kul Bhushan Negi

“During your struggle society is not a bunch of flowers, it is a bunch of cactus.” Amit Kalantri

“People are not cactuses, they need plenty of water and, when talking about friendship, the water is our time.” Birute Sol

“We reap what we sow. We cannot expect apples when we have sown the seed of a cactus.” Unknown

“People trample over flowers, yet only to embrace a cactus.” James Joyce

“A daisy blooming in the desert is worth more than a rose blossoming in a rainforest.” Mashona Dhimaya

“The desert works constantly to forbid it, and still the cactus blooms.” Uma Gokhale

“You are holding a cactus plant in your hand. The cactus is not hurting you—your own attachment with the cactus is hurting you.” Shunya

Read Next: 24 Spots to See Arizona Wildflowers in Spring

Funny Cactus Puns

Sometimes, when we’re thinking about Instagram cactus quotes, we don’t really want to get too deep–we just want to be clever! Here are some funny cactus puns that would be great on social media.

Full disclosure: they also work well in polite conversation too–people will be amazed at your sharp wit! 🤣

-You’re looking really sharp!

-Dear Cactus: I promise I’ll never desert you

-I’m totally stuck on you

-Cactus makes perfect

-We make a prickly pear

-Let’s stick together

-I’m ready to take it from cact-i to cact-us

-Grab life by the thorns

-Have a fanCACTUS day!

Cute Cactus Quotes

“My dad is like a cactus—introverted and tough.” Gary Vaynerchuk

“I bought a cactus. A week later it died. And I got depressed, because I thought, Damn. I am less nurturing than a desert.” Demetri Martin

“I remember very clearly someone saying, “Don’t shake hands with the cactus,” and I thought, “Well, why not? What could possibly go wrong? Shaking hands is a friendly gesture.” Benedict Cumberbatch

“I’m the Big Cactus . . . because if you come to close, you’re gonna get stuck.” Shaquille O’Neal

Right from the horse’s (er, the cactus’s) mouth . . .the perfect Instagram cactus quotes!

“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy succulents! And that is pretty much the same thing.” Unknown

“You know you’re an Arizona native when you hug a cactus only once in your lifetime.” Nancy Dedera

“Anyone who’s ever tried to tangle with a teddy bear cactus knows there’s a whole lot more bear than teddy to it.” Kevin Hearne

“The trees were in leaf and every plant was blooming, except for the cacti, which were being stubbornly prickly.” Anonymous

Funny Quotes about Cactus

“I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside.” Mo Udall

“A cactus doesn’t live in the desert because it likes the desert; it lives there because the desert hasn’t killed it yet.” Hope Jahren

“I consider it the highest compliment when my employees go out and start their own companies in competition with me. I always send them a plant to wish them well. Of course, it’s a cactus.” Norman Brodsky

“Cactus classification is similar to fashion on women’s skirts: they first shorten improperly and then lengthen excessively.” R. Foster

“Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don’t have to sit on it.” Joyce Meyer

“A cactus is really just an aggressive cucumber.” Unknown

“The one who swallows cactuses with spines should not complain about hemorrhoids.” Etgar Keret

“I’ve met some pricks in my time but you are the whole cactus.” Unknown

“A saguaro can fall for a snowman but where would they set up house?” Jodi Picoult

Instagram Cactus Quotes

“People trample over flowers, yet only to embrace a cactus.” James Joyce

“The desert works constantly to forbid it, and still the cactus blooms.” Uma Gokhale

“If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.” Mashona Dhimaya

“Deserts never believe in cactus. Seeds do.” Deepak Gupta

“Life is like a cactus. Thorny, but beautiful.” Unknown

“The cactus is not a bad plant. It is just a beautiful plant with thorns.” Unknown

Read Next: Ajo Mountain Drive in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Quotes about Cactus and Life

“Anger was simple, self-sustaining as a cactus. You couldn’t look to closely at it, lest the spines get you in the eye.” Rebecca Scherm

Take the rose, most people think it very beautiful; I don’t care for it at all. I prefer the cactus, for the simple reason that it has a more interesting personality. It has wonderfully adapted itself to its surroundings! It is the best illustration of the theory of evolution in plant life.
Charles Proteus Steinmetz

Max De Pree

“A whale is as unique as a cactus. But don’t ask a whale to survive Death Valley. We all have special gifts. Where we use them and how determines whether we actually complete something.”Max De Pree

“Deserts are very dry places, but plants can still grow there. Desert plants collect and use water in special ways.” Julie Penn

“During your struggle society is not a bunch of flowers, it is a bunch of cacti.” Amit Kalanithi

“The world is full of cactus, but we don’t’ have to sit on it.” Will Foley

“I’m like the trunk of a cactus . . . I take in a dose of culture and time with friends, then I retreat and go live on it for a while until I get thirsty again.” Nancy Horan

“Only a few love the cactus as other fail to see their beauty. Because others just hate them for the thorns they posess, and they don’t understand the fact they are meant to work as their protective gear.” Lone Thinker

Cactus Captions

“If seeds waited for perfect conditions to grow, there would be no plants in the desert.” Mashona Dhimaya

“Adolescence is like cactus.” Anais Nin

“The thorns are worth bearing for a flower.” Kalinin

“Life can be prickly. Bloom anyway.” Unknown

“People trample on flowers, but respect cacti.” Lone Thinker

Longer Cactus Quotes and Poems

“She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and a way she flew.” Jerry Spinelli

When the going gets tough
Just like the golden barrel cactus
You bloom yellow
and poesy drips from you instead of tears.

Neelam Saxena Chandra

Every cactus blooms
Some with little rooms
Some give flowers that grow
Others so small it won’t show!

Ana Claudia Antunes

“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.” Vera Nazarian

” . . . it reminds me of us because a cactus can grow and thrive without a lot of water and attention. Even if it gets neglected on a shelf, it can blossom and still develop into something beautiful.” Rebecca Bloom

More Funny Cactus Puns for Instagram

-I needle little help

-You’re prickin’ awesome

-I’m caught in a prickle

-Cact-i plus cact-you equals cact-us

-Grab life by the thorns

-I’m on pins and needles

-You make me thorny

-Never drought my love for you

Well, there you have it, our list of more than 80 Instagram cactus quotes.  I think I need to grab my hiking boots and get out in the desert so I can use some of the funny cactus quotes this week on my Instagram!

If you’ve got more quotes about cactus that you think should be here, send us a note at contactus@arizonajourney.org. We’ll add it to the list (and give you credit 😊)

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