How the universal heart of man blesses flowers!—They are wreathed round the cradle, the marriage altar, and the tomb.—They should deck the brow of the youthful bride, for they are in themselves a lovely type of marriage.—They should twine round the tomb, for their perpetually renewed beauty is a symbol of the resurrection.—They should festoon the altar, for their fragrance and beauty ascend in perpetual worship before the most high.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of yesterday
—Common Proverb
God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars; but on earth he planteth his name by tender flowers.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.
—Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944) French Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?
—Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) Belgian Poet, Playwright, Essayist
Today as in the time of Pliny and Columella, the hyacinth flourishes in Wales, the periwinkle in Illyria, the daisy on the ruins of Numantia; while around them cities have changed their masters and their names, collided and smashed, disappeared into nothingness, their peaceful generations have crossed down the ages as fresh and smiling as on the days of battle.
—Edgar Quinet (1803–75) French Historian, Poet
Every flower is a soul blossoming in Nature.
—Gerard de Nerval (1808–55) French Poet, Essayist, Critic
A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Flowers are happy things.
—P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) British Novelist, Short-story Writer, Playwright
Flowers are God’s way of smiling
—Common Proverb
The lotus flower is troubled
At the sun’s resplendent light;
With sunken head and sadly
She dreamily waits for the night.
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German Poet, Writer
The poet’s darling.
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
Stars of earth, these golden flowers; emblems of our own great resurrection; emblems of the bright and better land.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
A weed is but an unloved flower.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
Flowers that are so pathetic in their beauty, frail as the clouds, and in their coloring as gorgeous as the heavens, had through thousands of years been the heritage of children—honored as the jewelry of God only by them—when suddenly the voice of Christianity, counter-signing the voice of infancy, raised them to a grandeur transcending the Hebrew throne, although founded by God himself, and pronounced Solomon in all his glory not to be arrayed like one of these.
—Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859) English Essayist, Critic
Flowers are as common in the country as people are in London.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
To cultivate a garden is to walk with God.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Perfumes are the feelings of flowers.
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German Poet, Writer
Fair flowers are not left standing along the wayside long.
—German Proverb
From the withered tree, a flower blooms.
—Unknown
Teach me, Father, how to go
Softly as the grasses grow;
Hush my soul to meet the shock
Of the wild world as a rock;
But my spirit, propt with power,
Make as simple as a flower.
Let the dry heart fill its cup,
Like a poppy looking up;
Let life lightly wear her crown,
Like a poppy looking down,
When its heart is filled with dew,
And its life begins anew.
—Edwin Markham (1852–1940) American Poet, Lecturer
The Amen of nature is always a flower.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.
—Claude Monet (1840–1926) French Impressionist painter
Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies, for example.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Earth laughs in flowers.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out-values all the utilities of the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I wonder what spendthrift chose to spill
Such a bright gold under my windowsill!
Is it fair gold? Does it glitter still?
Bless me! It’s a daffodil!
—Celia Thaxter (1835–94) American Poet, Writer