Often the prickly thorn produces tender roses
- Ovid
Are we, finally, speaking of nature or culture when we speak of a rose (nature), that has been bred (culture) so that its blossoms (nature) make men imagine (culture) the sex of women (nature)?
It may be this sort of confusion that we need more of.
- Michael Pollan
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
- Ernest Dowson
The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.
- Tennessee Williams