Flowers

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into. – Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

Earth laughs in flowers. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Hamatreya”

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. – Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

For myself I hold no preferences among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous. Bricks to all greenhouses! Black thumb and cutworm to the potted plant! – Edward Abbey

[F]lowers… adorn our lanes, fields and fells, and… smile upon us and cheer and bless us in our country rambles…. the lovely blossoms… kiss the clear brooks and mountain wells… – James Rigg, “Preface,” Wild Flower Lyrics and Other Poems, 1897

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. – Basho

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat. – Beverly Nichols

Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. – Walt Whitman

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. – Tennessee Williams

Flowers are without hope. Because hope is tomorrow and flowers have no tomorrow. – Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers, but the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms. – Ikkyu Sojun

Look at us, said the violets blooming at her feet, all last winter we slept in the seeming death but at the right time God awakened us, and here we are to comfort you. – Edward Payson Rod

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. – John Ruskin

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. – Chinese Proverb

Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock. – Henry Ward Beecher, Star Papers: A Discourse of Flowers

Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. – Walt Whitman

The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life. – Jean Giraudoux

Flowers really do intoxicate me. – Vita Sackville-West

The quality of scent or perfume is essential, and any flower that lacks perfume is far from perfect, no matter what other qualities it may possess. – T.H. Cook, James Douglas, and J.F. McLeod, Carnations & Pinks, 1911