The writer catches the changes of his mind on the hop. Growth is exciting; growth is dynamic and alarming. Growth of the soul, growth of the mind.
Vita Sackville-WestRead
Gardening is a luxury occupation: an ornament, not a necessity, of life.... Fortunate gardener, who may preoccupy himself solely with beauty in these difficult and ugly days! He is one of the few people left in this distressful world to carry on the tradition of elegance and charm. A useless member of society, considered in terms of economics, he must not be denied his rightful place. He deserves to share it, however humbly, with the painter and poet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Gardening is a pursuit of beauty and elegance, valued for its aesthetic contributions rather than its economic utility.
This quote emphasizes the significance of gardening as an art form and a means of cultivating beauty in a chaotic world. It suggests that those who engage in gardening do so not for economic gain, but for the fulfillment and joy it brings, akin to the lives of artists and poets who contribute to society through their creativity and aesthetic expressions. In times of distress, gardening serves as a vital and noble occupation that elevates the human experience.
Themes
GardeningBeautyArtEleganceLuxurySociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of arts in community life, one could use this quote to highlight the value of beauty.
More from Vita Sackville-West
All quotes →I loved you when love was Spring, and May, Loved you when summer deepened into June, and now when autumn yellows all the leaves.
Vita Sackville-WestRead
The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.
Vita Sackville-WestRead
It is a sad moment when the first phlox appears. It is the amber light indicating the end of the great burst of early summer and suggesting that we must now start looking forward to autumn. Not that I have any objection to autumn as a season, full of its own beauty; but I just cannot bear to see another summer go, and I recoil from what the first hint of autumn means.
Vita Sackville-WestRead
There is nothing more lovely in life than the union of two people whose love for one another has grown through the years, from the small acorn of passion, into a great rooted tree
Vita Sackville-WestRead
It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How _x000D_ else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?
Vita Sackville-WestRead
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