If we had to pick an all-around favorite state, Vermont would definitely be a top contender. We love its snowy mountains and its fall foliage, its social consciousness and its small businesses. Vermont was our favorite getaway when we lived in Boston, a place we skied and hiked and cycled, and where Ryan ran two marathons. We even got married in Vermont!
If you love the Green Mountain State as much as we do, these quotes about Vermont are sure to resonate. They’ll remind you of its magic, inspire you to plan a visit, or transport you to its mountains and forests – and provide some fodder for your Vermont Instagram captions, of course.
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The Best Quotes about Vermont
In putting this post together, we read dozens of quotes about Vermont, from inspirational and poignant to funny and cliché. After sifting through them all, these are our picks for the very best. Each one of these inspirational quotes captures the essence of Vermont in just a few words.
“Where I live, in Vermont, there’s this thing that women know about men, which is this disease: their childhood was so idyllic that nothing in the rest of their life can ever be satisfying. It’s almost a plague.” – Colin Trevorrow (film director)
“I’m going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season.” – Tracy Kidder (writer)
“Vermont is a country unto itself.” – Pearl S. Buck (author)
“May the 14th star shine bright.” – official Latin Vermont state motto (“Stella quarta decima fulgeat”)
“All in all, Vermont is a jewel state, small but precious.” – Pearl S. Buck (author)
“Vermont is a small state which makes an enormous difference.” – Fred Rogers (“Mr. Rogers”)
Vermont Quotes That Get to the Heart of the State
These sayings about Vermont are ones that really tell us something about the state’s values, and community, freedom, and service seem to top the list. From passionate support for small businesses in Vermont to local engagement on every issue, it’s clear that Vermonters live out these values on a daily basis.
“I am often reminded that the wellspring of Vermont liberty flows from Main Street, not State Street.” – James H. Douglas (former Governor of Vermont)
“Vermont tradition is based on the idea that group life should leave each person as free as possible to arrange his own life.” – Dorothy Canfield Fisher (writer and activist)
“New England has a strong tradition of localism. What is ordinarily called election day in most of the United States is called town meeting day in Vermont.” – Murray Bookchin (philosopher)
“Small merchants make up the majority of Vermont’s small businesses and thread our state together. It is the mom-and-pop grocers, farm-supply stores, coffee shops, bookstores and barber shops where Vermonters connect, conduct business and check in on one another.” – Peter Welch (U.S. Representative from Vermont)
“Vermont is the only place in America where I ever hear thrift spoken of with respect.” – Dorothy Canfield Fisher (writer and activist)
“I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people. They are a race of pioneers who have almost beggared themselves to serve others. If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the union and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont.” – Calvin Coolidge (30th U.S. President)
Stereotypical Sayings about Vermont
Is it a little cliché to talk about Vermont as though it’s all snow, farms, and leaves? As though it’s some type of idyllic rural paradise? Or as though everyone is a free-spirited farmer? Yes. Should you use something a little more nuanced for your Vermont captions for Instagram? Probably.
But even though these play into some stereotypes, they’re funny Vermont quotes because they’re (mostly) accurate. After all, many of them come from people who are from the state and speak from their own experience.
“I grew up in Vermont, so we didn’t really have a TV, growing up, or a football team.” – Hannah Teter (Olympic snowboarder)
“I don’t have a PR rep. I live in Vermont.” – Colin Trevorrow (film director)
“Everybody seems to know everybody, and I’m a smart-ass standup comedian with a big mouth. What could go wrong?” – Mark Saltviet (comedian), “A Flatlander’s Application to Join Vermont”
“I’m from Vermont, where to be stylish and cool is to have a dirty pair of hiking boots and know how to change a tire, hang drywall, and bale hay.” – Grace Potter (singer-songwriter)
“A year in Vermont, according to an old saw, is nine months of winter followed by three months of very poor sledding.” – Bill Bryson (travel writer)
“In high school, I went to a place called the Mountain School. It’s on a farm in Vermont, and I read Emerson and Thoreau and ran around the woods.” – Nick Kroll (comedian)
“It is true, we do lack a good hip-hop channel, and our corn mazes are quite popular.” – Michael Schirling (Vermont Public Safety Commissioner), in response to the SNL sketch about Vermont titled “Neo-Confederate Meeting”
“Canada? Please. That’s like they took Vermont and made a whole country out of it, only more boring, and without the good maple syrup.” – Larry Correia (author)
My Own Vermont Sayings
After thinking back on our many trips to Vermont, I decided to try to capture its spirit in my own words. If you feel so inclined to use one of these quotes in your Vermont Instagram captions, tag us @passionsandplaces!
“In my imagination, it’s always mid-October in Vermont.”
“Vermont is the most hygge state in America.”
“Vermont is small, but its sky is wide.”
Jokes about Vermont
It seems like most Vermont jokes have to do with New Hampshire, the University of Vermont, or liberal politics. Or the weather. A lot of them have to do with the weather.
Regardless, these are a few that most anyone familiar with the state should be able to appreciate. And much to Ryan’s relief (since he loathes them), I couldn’t really find any Vermont puns. If you know some, drop them in the comments!
Vermont: Getting’ busy with New Hampshire since 1791.
How many Vermonters does it take to change a light bulb? Three: one to change it and two to talk about how much better the old one was.
How many Vermonters does it take to change a light bulb? 101: One to change it, and 100 to hold a rally on Church Street complaining about light pollution.
The best thing about Burlington is that it’s so close to Vermont.
You know you’re from Vermont when: you have more miles on your snowblower than your car.
What separates a good hockey team from a great hockey team? The New Hampshire-Vermont border.
In Vermont, the four seasons are: “almost winter,” “winter,” “still winter,” and “road construction.”
Vermont: where “through the covered bridge” is always part of giving directions.
Bernie Sanders Quotes about Vermont
From his views on social and environmental issues to his passion for them, Bernie Sanders embodies so much of what Vermont stands for – I guess that’s why they keep re-electing him! Not surprisingly, he’s had a lot to say about his state over the years. I found so many great Bernie Sanders quotes about Vermont, I figured they deserved their own section.
“For much of America, the all-American values depicted in Norman Rockwell’s classic illustrations are idealistic. For those of us from Vermont, they’re realistic. That’s what we do.”
“When I ran for the Senate the first time, I ran against the wealthiest guy in the state of Vermont. He spent a lot on advertising – very ugly stuff. He kept attacking me as a liberal. He didn’t use the word ‘socialist’ at all because everybody in the state knows that I am that.”
“I am the longest-serving independent in the history of the United States Congress. People of Vermont sent me to Washington as an independent. That is true.”
“Shouting down and intimidating someone from speaking their mind is not exactly a Vermont town meeting value, nor should it be an American town meeting value.”
A Few More Vermont Quotes
Haven’t found the right quotes or captions for Vermont yet? Here are a few more we couldn’t not include.
“I heard on public radio recently, there’s a thing called Weed Dating. Singles get together in a garden and weed and then they take turns, they keep matching up with other people. Two people will weed down one row and switch over with two other people. It’s in Vermont. I don’t think I’d be very good at Weed Dating.” – Roy Blount, Jr. (writer)
“Visiting Ireland reminded me of when I first arrived in Vermont. I thought, ‘This is home.’” – Jane O’Meara Sanders
“One out of every 100 families in Vermont was a part owner of Ben and Jerry’s.” – Jerry Greenfield (Jerry, of Ben and Jerry’s)
“Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup. I’ve married someone from Vermont, so it’s an expression I kept hearing, and I’m like, ‘What is that? That’s just so beautiful.’ I like the idea it’s the very, very first murmurings of spring.” – Beth Orton (singer-songwriter)
“The leaves are changing and so is Vermont.” – Michael Schirling (Vermont Public Safety Commissioner)
Vermont Sayings to Know Before You Go
Lastly, there are more than a couple Vermont expressions that you may never have heard before if you’re a flatlander (see below). So before you visit, make sure you know what these local Vermont sayings mean:
Creemee: soft-serve ice cream
Dooryard: driveway
Leaf peepers: tourists who travel in the fall specifically to see the changing leaves
Mud season: the period of snowmelt in late-winter and spring
Sugaring season: mid-winter to early spring, when maple syrup is made
Champ: the mythical (or maybe not!) monster in Lake Champlain
Flatlander: a derogatory term for someone who’s not from Vermont
UVM: abbreviation for the University of Vermont
802: informal Vermont slogan and the area code for the entirety of the state
Do you have any favorite quotes or jokes about Vermont? Drop them in the comments!
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Wonderful post! I spend half the year in Vermont and love it as much as you seem to!
That’s amazing, I would love to spend half of each year in Vermont! 😀