Hal Borland Quotes

No durable things are built on violent passion. Nature grows her plants in silence and in darkness, and only when they have become strong do they put their heads above the ground.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.

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

Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break. It stands firm, and round it the seething waters are laid to rest.

Should the whole frame of nature round him break, In ruin and confusion hurled, He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack, And stand secure amidst a falling world.

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut, that held its ground.

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Calmness is the cradle of power.

I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience.

Of course fear does not automatically lead to courage. Injury does not necessarily lead to insight. Hardship will not automatically make us better. Pain can break us or make us wiser. Suffering can destroy us or make us stronger. Fear can cripple us, or it can make us more courageous. It is resilience that makes the difference.

Gardening is a working meditation for me. It helps me remember process, and it helps me remember patience.

I have the strength to remain calm in the face of change.

Great is the advantage of patience.

The light of truth burns without a flicker in the depths of a house that is shaken with storms of passion and fear.

A man without patience is a lamp without oil.

Either a wise man will not go into bunkers, or, being in, he will endure such things as befall him with patience.

Possess your soul with patience.

Strength comes from waiting.

May you find in yourself enough patience to endure and enough simplicity to have faith.

We draw our strength from the great oaks of the forest. As they take their nourishment from the soil, and from the rains that feed the soil, so we find our courage in the pattern of living things around us. They stand through storm and tempest. They grow and renew themselves. Like a grove of young oaks, we remain strong.