“Science may eventually explain the world of How. The ultimate world of...” — Liberty Hyde Bailey Quote

“Science may eventually explain the world of How. The ultimate world of Why may remain for contemplation, philosophy, religion.”

“I do not yet know why plants come out of the land or float in streams, or creep on rocks or roll from the sea. I am entranced by the mystery of them, and absorbed by their variety and kinds. Everywhere they are visible yet everywhere occult.”

“No beast has ever conquered the earth; and the natural world has never been conquered by muscular force.”

“If a person cannot love a plant after he has pruned it, then he has either done a poor job or is devoid of emotion.”

“The true purpose of education is to teach a man to carry himself triumphant to the sunset.”

“There are two essential epochs in any enterprise - to begin, and to get done.”

“Our goodness comes solely from thinking on goodness; our wickedness from thinking on wickedness. We too are the victims of our own contemplation.”

“I have created a life style that supports contemplation, service to words.”

“The act of contemplation then creates the thing created.”

“There have been hours in my unhappy life, many of them, when the contemplation of death as the end of earthly sorrow - of the grave as a resting place for the tired and worn out body - has been pleasant to dwell upon.”

“What a man takes in by contemplation, that he pours out in love.”

“As we continue to become a society of tweets, shorter and shorter messages, there's great value in the contemplation and reflection that comes from reading a long body of work.”