Hal Borland

Here and there one sees the blush of wild rose haws or the warmth of orange fruit on the bittersweet, and back in the woods is the occasional twinkle of partridgeberries. But they are the gem stones, the rare decorations which make the grays, the browns and the greens seem even more quiet, more completely at rest.

Man is wise and constantly in quest of more wisdom; but the ultimate wisdom, which deals with beginnings, remains locked in a seed. There it lies, the simplest fact of the universe and at the same time the one which calls forth faith rather than reason.

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.

You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.

A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.

Summer ends and Autumn comes and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night.

No Winter lasts forever no Spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep and we know it.

No winter lasts forever no spring skips its turn.

Each new season grows from the leftovers from the past. That is the essence of change and change is the basic law.

Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable...the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street...by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.

Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night.

In a painful time of my life I went often to a wooded hillside where May apples grew by the hundreds, and I thought the sourness of their fruit had a symbolism for me. Instead, I was to find both love and happiness soon thereafter. So to me [the May apple] is the mandrake, the love symbol, of the old dealers in plant restoratives.

Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.