True gardeners cannot bear a glove Between the sure touch and the tender root.

When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die...they change before my eyes. They live and die in a few days; they keep me closely in touch with the process, with growth, and also with dying. I am floated on their moments.

Nobody stays special when they're old, Anna. That's what we have to learn.

Old age is not an illness, it is a timeless ascent. As power diminishes, we grow toward the light.

Words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child's mind, they are not easily eradicated.

It is dark now. The snow is deep blue and the ocean nearly black. It is time for some music.

It's extraordinary how little two people can understand each other and how cruel two people who are fond of each other can be to each other - there is practically no cruelty so awful because their power to hurt is so great.