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I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses a deep appreciation for the beauty and wonder of nature, particularly the process of cultivation and growth.

In this quote, Nathaniel Hawthorne reflects on the profound joy and love he feels for his garden and the plants he nurtures. His experience of witnessing the growth of his vegetable plants fills him with a unique sense of connection to nature, which he believes cannot be fully understood by those who have not engaged in the act of creation and cultivation themselves. This highlights the intimate relationship between a gardener and their plants, suggesting that the act of growing is not merely a task but a deeply rewarding experience that enriches the soul.

Themes

NatureGardeningCreationGrowthAppreciation

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared during a gardening workshop to inspire participants about the joys of cultivating plants.

More from Nathaniel Hawthorne

Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, this it overflows upon the outward world.
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A bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.
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All merely graceful attributes are usually the most evanescent.
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There is so much wretchedness in the world, that we may safely take the word of any mortal professing to need our assistance; and, even should we be deceived, still the good to ourselves resulting from a kind act is worth more than the trifle by which we purchase it.
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Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart! Else it may be their miserable fortune, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, which they will have imposed upon her as the warm reality.
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The thing you set your mind on is the thing you ultimately become.
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