With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy.
- Lope de Vega
A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
- Walt Whitman
Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to.
But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough.
Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing,
inhibits and embarrasses them.
- Victoria Glendinning
From a thorn comes a rose, and from a rose comes a thorn.
- Greek Proverb