78 Quotes by 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.

July is a blind date with summer.

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.

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.

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.

Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January.

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.