Old Herbaceous Quotes

“Funny, that! You planted a tree; you watched it grow; you picked the fruit and, when you were old, you sat in the shade of it. Then you died and they forgot all about you—just as though you had never been....But the tree went on growing, and everybody took it for granted. It always had been there and it always would be there....Everybody ought to plant a tree, sometime or another—if only to keep them humble in the sight of the Lord.”
― Reginald Arkell, Old Herbaceous: A Story

“Mrs. Charteris used to say that if we spent our spare time growing flowers instead of talking a lot of nonsense, the world would be a happier place...”
― Reginald Arkell, Old Herbaceous

“You think my lady was off her head because she found time, in the middle of all her own troubles, to think about an old chap who had worked for her for sixty years. That shows how little you know. There’s still room for a bit of kindness in the world, and the next time you feel like taking a short cut across people’s feelings when you want you get somewhere in a hurry, you might bear that in mind.”
― Reginald Arkell, Old Herbaceous

“Había un viejo manzano en el rincón, un auténtico veterano de guerra que ya había vivido sus mejores días. Su fruto era casi insignificante; eso sí, cuando florecía se te paraba el corazón. Como espuma rompiendo en un arrecife de coral, así era.”
― Reginald Arkell, Old Herbaceous. A Novel of the Garden

“La vida en un jardín es una larga batalla contra las fuerzas del mal, pero la victoria merece la pena. A una derrota exasperante le seguía un triunfo espectacular. En un momento estás tirado en el suelo y al siguiente te elevas sobre las alas de la mañana.”
― Reginald Arkell, Old Herbaceous. A Novel of the Garden

“Mirando por la ventana, el anciano vio que la niebla del amanecer se había disipado, como si se hubiese levantado una cortina de gasa para revelar los coloridos detalles de un escenario teatral. Las dalias, que la primera helada aún no había ennegrecido; los asteres y las petunias, que aún salpicaban de color una tapia gris; las bayas de un cotoneaster, que parecían un regimiento de soldaditos de juguete con uniforme de gala....”
― Reginald Arkell, Old Herbaceous. A Novel of the Garden