Gardener Quotes

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they're going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there's going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don't know how many branches it's going to have, they find out as it grows. And I'm much more a gardener than an architect.”
― George R.R. Martin

“The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds, and pulls the weeds. If you merely stroll through the garden, you are but an acolyte.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

“This is God's universe and he is the master gardener of all. If we were to eliminate all colors in his garden,then what would be a rainbow with only one color? Or a garden with only one kind of flower? Why would the Creator create a vast assortment of plants, ethnicities, and animals, if only one beast or seed is to dominate all of existence?”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“We were all born to be peaceful citizens of the world. Take care of your global garden and do not allow evil gardeners to try and convince you which flowers are ugly and which should be destroyed. This is God's universe and he is the master gardener of all. If you see ugliness in his creations, then you see ugliness in our Creator. Wake up. If we eliminate all colors in his garden, then what would be a rainbow with only one color? And what would be a garden with only one kind of flower? Why would the Creator create a vast assortment of plants, ethnicities, and animals, if only one beast or seed is to dominate all of existence?”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“No Temple made by mortal human hands can ever compare to the Temple made by the gods themselves. That building of wood and stone that houses us and that many believe conceals the great Secret Temple from prying eyes, somewhere in its heart of hearts, is but a decoy for the masses who need this simple concrete limited thing in their lives. The real Temple is the whole world, and there is nothing as divinely blessed as a blooming growing garden.”
― Vera Nazarian, Dreams Of The Compass Rose

“This is God's universe and he is the master gardener of all. If we were to eliminate all colors in his garden, then what would be a rainbow with only one color? Or a garden with only one kind of flower? Why would the Creator create a vast assortment of plants, ethnicities, and animals, if only one beast or seed is to dominate all of existence?”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Thick lashes lifted, a moment of pure clarity in the dark gray as Noah wrapped his arm around her waist. "Meant to ask you to marry me, put the ring in the plant soil, but gardener made me drunk. He's so small. What happened?"”
― Nalini Singh, Rock Redemption

“The point is, sometimes when the rabbit gets too fat, too comfortable, he makes mistakes. But the gardener, she ain’t got nothing but time. Because even the hungriest rabbit can’t eat the entire garden. At some point the good sheriff will make a mistake, some gross miscalculation, reveal some weakness, and that’s when we’ll find our freedom.”
― Justina Ireland, Dread Nation

“He does not need to be an emperor, but a prince.
If he has enough charm or elegance to convince.”
― Ana Claudia Antunes, Precious Princess

“Perhaps we are not really sinners in the hands of an angry God, after all. Perhaps we are all more like seedlings in the hands of a wise gardener.”
― Seth Adam Smith, Rip Van Winkle and the Pumpkin Lantern

“Starker was saying that to be a guardian, you must be a gardener.”
― Jordan Fisher Smith, Engineering Eden: A Violent Death, a Federal Trial, and the Struggle to Restore Nature in Our National Parks

“What I am saying is that lovely, whimsical, and soulful things happen in a garden, leaving a gardener giddy.”
― Janisse Ray, The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food

“Gardener:

...Go thou, and like an executioner,
Cut off the heads of too fast growing sprays,
That look too lofty in our commonwealth:
All must be even in our government.
You thus employ'd, I will go root away
The noisome weeds, which without profit suck
The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers.

+Servant:

Why should we in the compass of a pale
Keep law and form and due proportion,
Showing, as in a model, our firm estate,
When our sea-walled garden, the whole land,
Is full of weeds, her fairest flowers choked up,
Her fruit-trees all upturned, her hedges ruin'd,
Her knots disorder'd and her wholesome herbs
Swarming with caterpillars?

-Gardener:
Hold thy peace!
He that hath suffer'd this disorder'd spring
Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf.,,”
― William Shakespeare, Richard II

“A countess, eh?” Mr. Cameron, into whose ear trumpet the news had duly been shouted, had begun to wheeze with unaccustomed and silent laughter. He knew, now, what to call his new rose, and the joke—obscure, private, pointless—was just the kind he particularly enjoyed.”
― Eva Ibbotson, A Countess Below Stairs

“Ha valamit használna vele, a kertész minden áldott nap térdre hullana, s ilyenformán imádkoznék: Uram, add, hogy mindennap essen, mondjuk, éjféltől hajnali háromig, de kérlek, csendes, meleg esőt szeretnék, hogy jól beszivárogjon a földbe. Úgy tedd, hogy ne essen a szurokszegfűre, ternyére, napvirágra, levendulára meg mindazokra a növényekre, amelyek - mint tudod, hisz végtelen a te bölcsességed - szárazságtűrő fajok. Ha akarod, felírom a nevüket egy cédulára. Add, hogy a napocska egész nap süssön, de ne mindenhová (például ne a gyöngyvesszőre, se a tárnicsra, se az istenfára, se a rododendronra), és ne is perzseljen. Add, hogy sok legyen a harmat, és kevés a szél, elég a giliszta, de ne legyen levéltetű és csiga, se lisztharmat. Tedd meg, hogy hetente egyszer hígított trágyalé és galambtrágya hulljon alá az égből. Ámen.”
― Karel Čapek, Gardener's Year

“SERVANT. Have mercy upon your servant, my queen!

QUEEN. The assembly is over and my servants are all gone. Why do you come at this late hour?

SERVANT. When you have finished with others, that is my time.
I come to ask what remains for your last servant to do.

QUEEN. What can you expect when it is too late?

SERVANT. Make me the gardener of your flower garden.

QUEEN. What folly is this?

SERVANT. I will give up my other work.
I will throw my swords and lances down in the dust. Do not send me to distant courts; do not bid me undertake new conquests.
But make me the gardener of your flower garden.

QUEEN. What will your duties be?

SERVANT. The service of your idle days.
I will keep fresh the grassy path where you walk in the morning, where your feet will be greeted with praise at every step by the flowers eager for death.
I will swing you in a swing among the branches of the saptaparna, where the early evening moon will struggle to kiss your skirt through the leaves.
I will replenish with scented oil the lamp that burns by your bedside, and decorate your footstool with sandal and saffron paste in wondrous designs.

QUEEN. What will you have for your reward?

SERVANT. To be allowed to hold your little fists like tender lotus-buds and slip flower chains over your wrists; to tinge the soles of your feet with the red juice of ashoka petals and kiss away the speck of dust that may chance to linger there.

QUEEN. Your prayers are granted, my servant, you will be the gardener of my flower garden.”
― Rabindranath Tagore, The Gardener

“Professionals and good Samaritans, once be the gardener of the nation, would root up corruption.”
― Vikrmn, You By You

“Rich can live better than poor but they cannot live without poor.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“You designed the garden then?"
"Oh no, 'twasn't meself at all. His lordship did all the work. Had drawings and lists of every plant be used and knew exactly where he wanted 'em put. Knew all the Latin names of 'em too. Saw that first plan meself with all his notes and jots before he gave me another copy with the common ones writ out so I could tell what they were. He asked me what I thought and if a lady would like it. Says as I thought the Queen herself would approve."
Breath grew thin in her lungs, her pulse speeding faster in confusion. Jack had done all this? Had arranged for the planting of this garden months ago before she'd even known about the house?
"Yup, even a Queen would like it, I says," she heard the gardener continue. "An' do ye know what he says back?"
"No," she whispered in a faint voice. "W-what did he say?"
He gave her a smile. "He says it doesn't matter if a Queen likes it, 'cause the only woman who matters is his wife. 'If this garden makes her smile,' he told me, 'then my efforts will have been all worthwhile.' "
Her hand shook as she realized that Jack had designed the garden.
For her!”
― Tracy Anne Warren, Seduced by His Touch

“The gardener knows the reality of a garden and its flowers. Do not fool him, with the artificial flowers, even though such flowers have its worth too.”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“Gardeners are never wicked are they?' said Ruth. 'Obstinate and grumpy and wanting to be alone, but not wicked. Oh, look at that creeper! I've always loved October so much, haven't you? I can see why it's called the Month of the Angels.”
― Eva Ibbotson, The Morning Gift

“Defining various disciplines is a form of creative restraint, binding down natural, outbranching development.

The concept of philosophy is broad. A great many ideas can be found within the love of seeking. It's intended meaning should be synonymous with curiosity. Before the rise of specific fields such as medicine, [in the mediterannean] medicine was a branch stretching around theology and philosophy. The 'love of uncovering' gives birth to specialization and that same force continues in every branch with the same or similar intensity as in the roots and the stem.

A tree should not be restrained, limited, heavily defined. Let it grow freely, unrestrained, limitless, without weight.

Curiosity, is not a field - it may lead to new fields, or improvements therein.

It's not much different from saying a woman should be [exactly] in this way, a man in that way, or a child in this way. It leads to creative authoritarianism, and is a threat to the free growth, cooperation and expansion of various fields.

It's not always necessary to set things in stone.”
― Monaristw

“Oh, I wonder... I was trying to fix the whole thing at once... But maybe it needs to be done one step at a time? I can do this... I can do this!!”
― Joe Whitt, The Sprite and the Gardener

“The rear doors of the Marble Hall open onto the sprawling Fountain Terrace, decorated with statues and topiary. A promenade curves southward from it, lined with yew trees that resemble giant gumdrops, and banks of daffodils and bluebells. Multiple gated gardens snake outward from the grassy lane.
"This is the first of the gardens that we allow visitors to tour," Max says, leading me through a gate with a plaque above it reading THE FRENCH GARDEN. "We just planted new pink roses for the summer season."
"They're beautiful."
I can feel Max watching me intently as I wander the perimeter, taking in the blooming flowers and lush orange trees.”
― Alexandra Monir, Suspicion

“The gardener knows the reality of a garden and its flowers. Do not fool him, with the artificial flowers, even though such flowers have its worth too”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“If you really want to be a good gardener, you need to understand what is going on in your soil.”
― Jeff Lowenfels, Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web

“Brandt stood at the gate as a garden club arrived at his nursery. One of the women reached over the fence and picked a rhododendron flower. Brandt immediately closed the gate and told the group to go home.”
― Sonja Nelson, The Pacific Coast Rhododendron Story

“A Garden Epitaph by Stewart Stafford

From a verdant birth,
Two roses entwined together,
A union withered from the earth,
Root quest in envenomed weather.

Green fingers pruned with ill will,
Each barb taken to wounded hearts,
Cut natures freed of earthly swill,
Two crimson blooms, beyond scars.

Master gardener, just hear me,
If you see devotion, leave it be,
In silent witness, wonders see,
Lest you hasten obsequies.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“In the garden of self, the wise gardener must guide,
Sun and shade, water and earth, in harmony reside.
Just as plants seek balance in nature’s embrace,
Ego and essence together find their place.

A task of awareness, conscious and clear,
Ensures neither ego nor essence reigns supreme, but near.
In this journey of the soul’s own making,
Both light and shadow partake in awakening.”
― Kevin L. Michel, The 7 Laws of Quantum Power

“Every path has a journey. Often the path carved is not seen by everyone but if it motivates others to be more, then it is a good path. I hope mine inspires at least one heart.”
― Reena Doss