The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still slowly ripen a fruit tree, as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.
—Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian Astronomer, Physicist, Mathematician
Bread feeds the body indeed, but the flowers also feed the soul.
—The Holy Quran Sacred Scripture of Islam
Earth laughs in flowers.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Each work of art excludes the world, concentrates attention on itself. For the time it is the only thing worth doing—to do just that; be it a sonnet, a statue, a landscape, an outline head of Caesar, or an oration. Presently we return to the sight of another that globes itself into a whole as did the first, for example, a beautiful garden; and nothing seems worth doing in life but laying out a garden.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.
—Unknown
Gardening imparts an organic perspective on the passage of time.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made By singing:—“Oh, how beautiful!” and sitting in the shade.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
Flowers leave their fragrance on the hand that bestows them.
—Chinese Proverb
Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk?
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Let the farmer forevermore be honored in his calling, for they who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
He that plants trees loves others besides himself.
—English Proverb
When I go into my garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
A garden is a friend you can visit any time
—Indian Proverb
A modest garden contains, for those who know how to look and to wait, more instruction than a library.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.
—Helen Hayes (1900–93) American Actor, Philanthropist
Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.
—George Washington Carver (1864–1943) American Scientist, Botanist, Educator, Inventor
The best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow.
—Unknown
Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
A garden is the best alternative therapy.
—Germaine Greer (b.1939) Australia Academic, Journalist, Scholar, Writer
A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.
—May Sarton (1912–95) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Novelist
Plant trees. They give us two of the most crucial elements for our survival: oxygen and books.
—A. Whitney Brown (b.1952) American Comedian, TV Personality
All gardeners live in beautiful places, because they make them so.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden
—Unknown
I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered, and near a good market for the productions of the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Such a variety of subjects, someone always coming to perfection, the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest, a continued one thro’ the year. Under a total want of demand except for our family table. I am still devoted to the garden. But tho’ an old man, I am but a young gardener.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
If you cross a rambling rose with a pansy, you get a rose that still rambles, but it also skips!
—Indian Proverb
You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt
—Indian Proverb
As the Garden Grows, so does the Gardener
—Unknown