"I never suffer any of my family to kill those
little innocent animals called striped snakes,
for they do me much service in destroying grasshoppers
and other troublesome insects. Toads are of essential service, especially in a garden, to eat up cabbage worms, caterpillars, etc.."
- Farmer's Almanac
"I have studied many
philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior."
- Hippolyte Taine
“Worry is today's mice nibbling on tomorrow's cheese”
“It's
better to feed one cat than many mice.”
- Norwegian Proverb
“If you
build a better mousetrap, you will catch better mice”
- George Gobel
“The mice
which helplessly find themselves between the cats' teeth acquire no merit from
their enforced sacrifice”
- Mahatma Gandhi
“It
doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches
mice.”
- Deng Xiaoping
“Swallow a toad
in the morning if you want to encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the
day”
- Chamfort
"Since we humans have the better brain, isn't
it our responsibility
to protect our fellow creatures from, oddly enough, ourselves?"
- Joy Adamson
“Gophers
will take an apricot's pit and leave the flesh.”
- Roy Ellis
“Raccoon
tastes like raccoon. I've never heard of any elected official or politician who didn't like 'coon.”
- Phil English
"I would welcome your gophers to my hard soggy clay soil any
day these little buddies do more "good" than harm to the land."
- Author Unknown
"The dog is the only animal that has
seen his god."
- Author Unknown
Tiger Frolic Exercises - Five Animal Frolics Qigong
"Here Skugg
Lies snug
As a bug
In a rug."
- Benjamin Franklin
"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder
for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn."
- Henry David Thoreau
"The greatest pleasure of a dog is
that you may make
a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too."
- Samuel Butler.
"If your heart is straight with God,
then every creature will be to you
a mirror of life
and a book of holy doctrine."
- Thomas à Kempis
|
Months and Seasons Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Verses, Lore, Myths, Holidays Celebrations, Folklore, Reading, Links, Quotations Information, Weather, Gardening Chores Compiled by Mike Garofalo |
|||
| Winter | Spring | Summer | Fall |
| January | April | July | October |
| February | May | August | November |
| March | June | September | December |
"Of the 2,400 species of snakes, some 270
species have venom that is harmful, but not necessarily fatal, to humans. ... However, experiments have
demonstrated that people from all corners of the planet have adverse physiological responses to sudden sightings of snakes."
- Sharon Lovejoy
"I think I could turn and live with
animals, they are
so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long."
- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself, 1855
"He may look just the same to you,
And he may be just as fine,
But the next-door dog is the next-door dog,
And mine - is - mine."
- Dixie Wilson
"I have found the link between animal and
civilized man;
it is us."
- Konrad Lorenz
"I love cats because I love my home
and after a while they become its visible soul."
- Jean Cocteau
"I value my garden more for being full of
blackbirds than of cherries,
and very frankly give them fruit for their songs."
- Joseph Addison
"Not the cry, but the flight of the
wild duck,
leads the flock to fly and follow."
- Chinese Proverb
"A cow is a very good animal in the
field;
but we turn her out of a garden."
- Samuel Johnson
"When a man does not admit that he is
an animal,
he is less than an animal.
Not more but less."
- Michael
McClure
"Dog: A kind of additional or subsidiary Deity
to catch
the overflow and surplus of the world's worship."
- Ambrose Bierce
"The dog was created especially for
children.
He is the god of frolic."
- Henry Ward Beecher
"If dogs are not there, it is not
heaven."
- Elisabeth M. Thomas
"Rabbits have a habit of
coming for breakfast and staying for lunch.
Now there's one leaf instead of a bunch."
- Gerry Krueger
Insects - Quotes for Gardeners
"Dogs lives are too short. Their only fault, really."
- Carlotta Monterey O'Neill
"I hope you love birds too. It
is economical. It saves going to heaven."
- Emily Dickinson
A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron, 2011.
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel, 1979.
"All animals but men know that the
principle business of life
is to enjoy it - and they do enjoy it as much as man
and other circumstances will allow it."
- Samuel Butler
"A study of animal communities has
this advantage: they are merely
what they are, for anyone to see who will and can look clearly; they cannot complicate the picture by worded idealisms, by saying one thing and being another; here the struggle is unmasked and the beauty is unmasked."
- John Steinbeck's friend Ed Ricketts, from Cannery Row.
"From a dog's point of view his master is
an elongated and abnormally cunning dog."
- Mabel L. Robinson
"He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Door: What a dog is perpetually on
the wrong side of."
- Ogden Nash
"A handsome smokey-colored brown bear
standing on his hind
legs,
showing that he is aroused and watchful.
Bearing in his right paw the shovel that digs to the truth beneath
appearances, cut the roots of useless attachments, and flings
damp sand on the fires of greed and war;
His left paw in the Mudra of Comradely Display - indicating
that all creatures have the full right to live to their limits and
that deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and lizards
all grow in the realm of the Dharma..."
- Gary Snyder, Smokey The Bear Sutra
"When I play with my cat, who knows if
I am
not more of a pastime to her than she is to me?"
- Montaigne
"I guess cows aren't into the four
food groups, especially when they are two of them."
- Anthony Clark
"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he
is fond of you;
but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer."
- Alfred North Whitehead
"I am indebted to the cat for a
particular kind of honorable deceit, for a greater control over myself, for a characteristic aversion to brutal sounds, and for the need to keep silent for long periods of time."
- Colette
Getting intimate with Frogs, by Pater Ecstaticus, 2010.
"The world has different owners at
sunrise ... Even your own garden does not belong
to you. Rabbits and blackbirds have the lawns; a tortoise-shell cat who never
appears
in daytime patrols the brick walls, and a golden-tailed pheasant
glints his way through the iris spears."
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with
feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... They must be Gods! A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me... I must be a God!
- Author Unknown
"When a dog barks at the moon, then it
is religion;
but when he barks at strangers, it is patriotism!"
- David Starr Jordan
"The fact that man knows right from
wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot."
- Mark Twain, What Is Man
"The toad has indeed no superior as a
destroyer of noxious insects,
and he possesses no bad habits and is entirely inoffensive himself,
every owner of a garden should treat him with utmost hospitality."
- Celia Thaxter, An Island Garden, 1894
"The great charm of cats is their
rampant egotism, their devil may care attitude
toward responsibility, and their disinclination to earn an honest dollar."
- Robertson Davies
"Odd things animals. All dogs look up
to you. All cats look down to you. Only the pig looks at you as an equal."
- Winston Churchill
"The time comes to every dog when it ceases to
care for people merely for biscuits or bones, or even for caresses, and walks out of
doors. When a dog really loves, it prefers the person who gives it nothing, and perhaps is too ill ever to take it out for exercise, to all the liberal cooks and active dog-boys in the world."
- Frances P. Cobbe
"It is just like man's vanity and
impertinence to call an animal dumb
because it is dumb to his dull perceptions."
- Mark Twain
"Cats don't adopt people.
They adopt refrigerators."
- Solomon Short
Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn
things like:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them
gently.
"I think we are drawn to dogs because
they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better."
- George Bird Evans
furuike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
- Basho
"Animals are such agreeable friends -
they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms."
- George Eliot
"An animal's eyes have the power to
speak a great language."
- Martin Buber
"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."
- Abraham Lincoln
"Cats seem to go on the principle that it
never does any harm to ask for what you want."
- Joseph Wood Krutch
"Poor indeed is the garden in which
birds find no homes."
- Abram L. Urban
"When a man has pity on all
living creatures then only is he noble."
- The Buddha
"We must fight against the spirit of
unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace."
- Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization
"To the ass, or the sow, their own
offspring appears the fairest in creation."
- Latin Proverb
"A cat is a pygmy lion who loves mice, hates
dogs, and patronizes human beings."
- Oliver Herford
"Toads are conservative animals, I
think, and not much given to expecting the best from fortune. Some weeks ago, well before the end of October, I accidentally dug up one while turning over some garden earth. I was surprised, naturally, when one of the clods heaved over on its die and there, in some annoyance,
sat at toad."
- Henry Mitchell
"A prudent man does not make the goat
his gardener."
-
Hungarian Proverb
"It seems to me the worst of all the
plagues is the slug, the snail
without a shell. He is beyond description repulsive, a mass of
sooty, shapeless slime, and he devours everything."
- Celia Thaxter, An Island Garden, 1894
"It's not easy being green."
- Kermit the Frog
"My little old dog, a heartbeat at my
feet."
- Edith Wharton
"They smell, they snarl and they
scratch; they have a singular aptitude
for shredding rugs, drapes and upholstery; they're sneaky, selfish and
not at all smart; they are disloyal, condescending and totally useless
in any rodent free environment."
- Jean Michel Chapereau
Ecology - Quotes for Gardeners
"If you have men who will exclude any
of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have
men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."
- St. Francis of Assisi
"He who is cruel to animals becomes
hard also in his dealings with men.
We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
- Immanuel Kant
"Anyone who has accustomed himself to
regard the life of any living creature
as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives."
- Albert Schweitzer
"Animals, whom we have made our slaves,
we do not like to consider our equals."
- Charles Darwin
Clever Raccons, by Kristin L. Nelson, 2000.
"When a man wantonly destroys one of
the works of man
we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the
works of god we call him a sportsman."
- Joseph Wood Krutch
"I envy animals for two things - their
ignorance of evil to come,
and their ignorance of what is said about them."
- Voltaire
"To a coon, six feet of wire fence is
merely a jungle gym upon which
it can work up an appetite before raiding the corn."
- Roy Barette
"From the oyster to the eagle, from
the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in men and each of them
exists in some man, sometimes several at the time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought."
- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
"The partridge loves peas, but not
those that go into the pot with it."
- African Proverb
"Remember that gophers also need to make a
living; preferably in somebody else's garden.
When you can't fight on and drop to die; your just a big tasty feast for the crows, ants,
buzzards and flies.
Your dog will always shit near your favorite garden seat.
Your wet and smelly dog always likes to cozy up real close while your weeding.
If dogs and cats craved raw vegetables, they would have never become pets.
Mother Nature is always pregnant.
Gardens are demanding pets."
- Michael P. Garofalo,
Pulling Onions
"Some people are uncomfortable with the idea
that humans belong to the same class of animals as cats and cows and raccoons. They're like the people who become successful and then don't want to be reminded of the old neighborhood."
- Phil Donahue
The Cat Behavior Answer Book: Practical Insights & Proven Solutions for Your Feline Questions, by Arden Moore, 2007.
"O to be self balanced for
contingencies!
O to confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule,
accidents, rebuffs as trees and animals do!"
- Walt Whitman
"Any man that hates dogs and babies can't be
all bad."
- Leo C. Rosten
"Bats are in serious decline nearly everywhere. Worldwide, there are
almost a thousand different kinds of bats which comprise nearly one fourth of all mammal species. Of
the 43 species living in the U.S. and Canada, nearly 40 percent are endangered or are
candidates for such status. ... Bats may eat their own weight in insects in a single night. They also control such garden pests such as ants, beetles and disease carrying mosquitoes. As
the primary predator of night-flying insects, bats play an important role in this balance of nature."
Texas Bat and Bird House
Products
"Every man is sociable until a cow
invades his garden"
- Irish toast
"Dogs come when they're called.
Cats take a message and get back to you."
- Mary Bly
"Early in April, as I was vigorously
hoeing in a corner, I unearthed a huge toad,
to my perfect delight and satisfaction; he had lived all winter, he had
doubtless fed on slugs all the autumn. I could have kissed him on the spot."
- Celia Thaxter
"I look out my window what do I see
a cardinal, a blue jay and a chickadee
They sit on my feeder or in my tree
they're fun to watch and company
When singing their pretty song
my worries and cares are gone
Hummingbirds enjoy my flowers
succulent nectar they love to devour
The chipmunk fills his cheeks
with the seeds that he seeks
He scurries away back to his den
then comes back for seeds again
Rabbits run, hop. and play
on this wonderful sunny day
Mother Nature is a window away
I am thankful for this every day"
- Sandi Vander Sluis
"A garden without cats, it will be
generally agreed,
can scarcely deserve to be called a garden at all."
- Beverly Nichols, Garden Open Tomorrow, 1968
"In my next life I want to come back
as one of my cats. They basically pretend we don't exist. They sit like two bumps on a log and watch us work for hours in the yard. They're probably wondering, along with the entire neighborhood, why we work so hard in our garden and it still looks like hell."
- Annie Spiegelman, Annie's Garden Journal, 1996
"I have studied
many philosophers and many cats.
The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior."
- Hippolyte Taine
Oh, John the Rabbit
Traditional American Folksong
"Oh, John the rabbit,
Yes, Ma’am
Got a mighty habit, Yes, Ma’am
Jumping in my garden, Yes Ma’am
Cutting down my cabbage, Yes Ma’am
My sweet potatoes, Yes Ma’am
My fresh tomatoes, Yes Ma’am
An if I live, Yes Ma’am
To see next fall, Yes, Ma’am
I ain’t gonna have, Yes Ma’am
No garden at all, Yes Ma’am"
- From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasure of American Folklore and Folk Songs,
Compiled by Amy L. Cohn, Scholastic 1993
"This cat in my lap
Purring, eyes closed, ears back -
Fur on my fingers."
- Mike Garofalo, Cuttings
"We know what the animals do, what are
the needs of the beaver, the bear, the salmon, and other creatures, because long ago men married them and acquired this knowledge from their animal wives."
- The Carrier Indians of the Bulkley River
"As far as our noblest hardwood
forests are concerned, the animals, especially squirrels and jays, are our greatest and almost only benefactors. It is to them that we owe this gift. It is not in vain that the squirrels live in or about every forest tree, or hollow log, and every wall and heap of stones."
- Henry David Thoreau, Journal, October 31, 1860
"Evolutionary biology is now uttering
and seeking those forces that link us with all those that have being. If we can discover the meaning in the trilling of a frog, perhaps we may understand why it is for us not merely noise but a song of poetry and emotion."
- Adrian Forsyth, A Natural History of Sex, 1986
Recommended Reading
The Cat Behavior Answer Book: Practical Insights & Proven Solutions for Your Feline Questions, by Arden Moore, 2007.
Clever Raccons, by Kristin L. Nelson, 2000.
Coyote
at the Kitchen Door: Living with Wildlife in Suburbia, by
Stephen DeStefano, 2010.
The
Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming,
by Shreve Stockton, 2009.
Dewey:
The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron, 2010.
A Dog's
Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron, 2011.
A Field
Guide to Cows: How to Identify and Appreciate America's 52 Breeds, by
John Pukite,
1998.
Frog
and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel, 1979.
Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden,
Rhonda Massingham Hart, 2005.
Deer-Resistant Landscaping: Proven Advice and Strategies for Outwitting Deer and
20 Other Pesky Mammals,
Neil Soderstrom, 2009.
Getting
intimate with Frogs, by
Pater Ecstaticus, 2010.
Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love, by Larry Levin, 2010.
Perfect
Puppy-Newly Revised & Updated: How to Raise a Well-Behaved Dog, by
Gwen Bailey,
2009.
The Secret Life of Cows, by Glen Wexler, 2007.
What Is
My Cat Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior, by Gwen
Bailey, 2002.
Why Is
My Dog Doing That?, by Gwen Bailey, 2009.
What Is
My Dog Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior, by Gwen
Bailey, 2002.
Wildlife in the Garden, Expanded Edition: How to Live in Harmony with Deer,
Raccoons, Rabbits, Crows, and Other Pesky Creatures, by Gene Logsdon, 1999.
The Spirit of Gardening
Website
Over 3,800 Quotations, Poems, Sayings, Quips, One-Liners, Clichés, Quotes, and
Insights
Arranged by Over 250 Topics
Over 15 Megabytes of Text
Over 21 Million Webpages (excluding graphics) Served to Readers Around the World
From January 1, 1999 through March 1, 2011
This webpage has been online since January 1999
Compiled by Karen Garofalo
and Mike Garofalo
E-Mail
Last Updated: November 2, 2012