“There's a black rose growing in your garden.”

“People grow couches and bikes and concrete in their front gardens instead of roses.”

“A black cat among roses,phlox, lilac-misted under a quarter moon,the sweet smells of heliotrope and night-scented stock. The garden is very still.It is dazed with moonlight,contented with perfume...”

“Dr. Klein like to say that gardens are for growing people, but we must not forget: People are for growing gardens.”

“Make your books your companions, let your cases and shelves be your pleasure grounds and gardens. Bask in their paradise, gather their fruit, pluck their roses, take their spices and myrrh. If your soul satiate and weary, change from garden to garden, from furrow to furrow, from prospect to prospect. Then will your desire renew itself and your soul be filled with delight.”

“Be tough … life is. In other words, there is no promise of a rose garden.”