Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France, had such an aversion to roses that she could not stand seeing one even in a painting.

We quickly discovered that two kittens were much more fun than one.

I suppose that for most people one of the darker joys of gardening is that once you've got started it's not at all hard to find someone who knows a little bit less than you.

I cannot walk into our garden without constantly being reminded of the friends who have shared their plants.

Gardening transcends everything that otherwise divides us.

I know of no common interest that exceeds gardening as a source of lifelong friendships, nor as a means of making new friends almost constantly.

Plants are the original chemists. Their sophistication makes DuPont and Monsanto look like little kids with chemistry sets.

A powerful hand lens [Eschenback Leutchlupe] with a focused beam of light opens up an entire world below the threshold of the ordinary experience of seeing.

Crabgrass is aptly descriptive of this hated weed, for it does scuttle quickly through a lawn.

We can plant to suit the needs of the birds and other wildlife that find a haven and a habitat on our home ground, and we can understand that to do so is a moral dictate, not a personal whim.

But there is one place where a person can make choices that will lead in a small way toward greater sanity in dealing with the natural order. That place is the private garden.

If you don’t understand the concept of time or appreciate its value, it’s almost impossible to be successful.

To dwell is to garden.

Being a comedian, you're under pressure. You have to deal with stress and pressure to perform - to deal with pressure without stress.

Others can measure their visions by what we see.

Novel writing is far and away the most exhausting work I know.

A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.

History is a promise that is always broken in the end

If you commit a big crime then you are crazy, and the more heinous the crime the crazier you must be. Therefore you are not responsible, and nothing is your fault.

I take it that reasonable human conduct is part of the ordinary course of things.

The computer, the noise of the computer feels like impatience. It's sort of the sound of impatience to me.