Four-Leaf Clover Quotes (2024)

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky? ~Stanisław Jerzy Lec (1909–1966) [In the 1962 English translation by Jacek Gałązka of Unkempt Thoughts from the Polish, here's the actual wording: "is he entitled to happiness?" –tg]

Ilse and I hunted all over the old orchard

One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith,
And one is for love, you know,
And God put another one in for luck —
If you search you will find where they grow.
~Ella Higginson (1861–1940), "Four-Leaf Clover"

O little four-leaf clover
With leaves of emerald hue,
I'd roam the wide fields over
To get a glimpse of you.
More sought than any flower
That grows in field or dell,
Luck upon thy leaves has power,
Fate has bound thee with a spell.
~Mary D. McIntosh (b.1867), "The Four-Leaf Clover"

I'll seek a four-leaved shamrock in all the fairy dells,
And if I find the charmed leaves, oh, how I'll weave my spells!
I would not waste my magic might on diamond, pearl, or gold,
For treasure tires the weary sense,—such triumph is but cold;
But I would play th' enchanter's part, in casting bliss around,—
Oh! not a tear, nor aching heart, should in the world be found...
~Samuel Lover, "The Four-Leaved Shamrock," Songs and Ballads, 1839

A good friend is like a four-leaf clover — hard to find and lucky to have. ~Author unknown

Oh, four-leaf clover, ha! ha! ha!
I've hunted near, I've hunted far,
And now I've found you, tell me true
What luck will come to me thro' you?
~Mary D. Brine, "The Four Leaf Clover Song," 1884

Oh! little four-leaf clover,
I will believe in you;
Let those who will be scornful—
I know you've told me true.
~Bertha J. Sherwood, "Four-Leaf Clover," Detroit Free Press, 1888

The queen of the fairies walked in the meadows in the early morning. She threw herself down upon the soft, green dew-sparkled grasses and took a nap. She dreamed of four-leaved clover, its shadow marking the fairies' resting place. When she awoke, she saw that it was just a bed of everyday three-leaved clover that the cattle loved to bite. Plucking a leaf, she pulled off one of its leaflets and placed it on another stem, making a four-leaf clover, and she healed the new leaf fast with a kiss. "Grow, my clover, and bear more four leaves; for your shadow marks the spot where a fairy has slept." ~May H. Horton, "The Four-Leaved Clover," 1894

In four out of every five watches brought us to be regulated, repaired, or cleaned, we find some token. Sometimes it is a bit of ribbon or lock of hair, or a rose petal. But oftener it's a four-leaf clover. The four-leaf clover is a love-token always. It is by the maiden fair given to her lover, who tenderly stows it away in the back of his watch-case. ~Jewelers' Weekly, 1887

A little four-leaf clover
That by the wayside grew,
She stooping plucked and fastened
Within her dainty shoe...
~Mary D. McIntosh (b.1867), "The Four-Leaf Clover"

Down among the orchard-grass,
A happy, careless rover,
The pretty little girl
Goes hunting four-leaf clover...
~Jennie E.T. Dowe, "Four-Leaf Clover," 1879

They say there's a charm in the four-leaf clover
And so I will search the whole field over;
Over the fragrant grass bent low,
To see if the prize hid there, or no.
~Mary D. Brine, "The Four-Leaf Clover," 1874

Oh, four leaf clover, ha! ha! ha!
I think a little fraud you are,
But whether false or whether true,
It's only fun to hunt for you.
~Mary D. Brine, "The Four Leaf Clover Song," 1884

Lounging upon the emerald green
Whose slope the trees of the forest screen,
A family group are searching over
The triune leaves for the four-leaf clover...
A bird droppeth down from its perch on high,
A butterfly aimlessly floateth by:
They too in the green and drifting over
Seem counting the leaves for four-leaf clover.
Like rarest beauties of heart and of mind,
So rare things in nature we seek to find—
Ah, loveliest spot the gaze may cover,
That vine-sheltered knoll of sweet white clover.
~Emily Thornton Charles (Emily Hawthorne), "Hunting the Four-Leaf Clover," 1886

Polly fell to looking for four-leaf clovers so industriously that Mary soon slipped from her seat to vie with her. "Here's a five-leaf," cried Mary. "But I found a seven-leaf yesterday," said Polly, triumphantly. It was a famous white clover patch, this one under Polly's swing. Nowhere else could you find so many "many-leafed" clovers in ten minutes as here. ~Avis Gordon, "The Forbidden Apple," 1905

The reason so many people never get anywhere in life is because, when opportunity knocks, they are out looking for four-leaf clovers. ~Walter P. Chrysler

Spencer: I'm looking for a four-leaf clover so I can be lucky.
God: Why don't you just staple a leaf onto a three-leaf clover?
Spencer: You're saying I should cheat?
God: No. I'm saying in this world, you have to make your own luck.
~Tommy Blaze, "Over the Four-Leaf Clover," Knocking on Heaven's Door, 2014, KOHD.org

Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don't want to press your luck. ~Author unknown

Warped wise man says: "If you iron a four-leaf clover, you press your luck." ~Joke submitted to Boys' Life, 1987, by Wayne Rich

What do you get if you cross poison ivy with a four-leaf clover? You get a rash of good luck. ~Laughs, Hoots & Giggles by Joseph Rosenbloom, 1984

Besides, the shamrock is a religious symbol. Saint Patrick said the leaves represented the trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That's why four-leaf clovers are so lucky — you get a bonus Jesus. ~Stephen Colbert, "Ireland's Shamrock Shortage," The Colbert Report, 2010

published 2006 Feb 10
revised 2018 Feb 21
last saved 2023 Aug 15
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