We think that diamonds are very important, gold is very important, all these minerals are very important. We call them precious minerals, but they are all forms of the soil. But that part of this mineral that is on top, like it is the skin of the earth, that is the most precious of the commons. – Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), Dirt! The Movie, 2009

In almost every garden, the land is made better and so is the gardener. – Robert Rodale (1930–1990)

Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. – Henry David Thoreau