QuoteProject
Aromatic plants bestow no spicy fragrance while they grow; but crush'd or trodden to the ground, diffuse their balmy sweets around.
Oliver Goldsmith
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Aromatic plants only release their fragrance when they are damaged or crushed, symbolizing how beauty often emerges from struggle.

This quote suggests that the true value and beauty of certain things are revealed only under pressure or adversity. Just as aromatic plants need to be crushed to release their sweet scent, people may unveil their true potential and resilience in challenging situations, often producing their most beautiful qualities during times of hardship.

Themes

Aromatic PlantsAdversityBeautyFragranceResilience

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about overcoming challenges, one could use this quote to illustrate how difficulties can lead to personal growth.

More from Oliver Goldsmith

Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.
Oliver GoldsmithRead
A mind too vigorous and active, serves only to consume the body to which it is joined.
Oliver GoldsmithRead
Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.
Oliver GoldsmithRead
Whatever the skill of any country may be in the sciences, it is from its excellence in polite learning alone that it must expect a character from posterity.
Oliver GoldsmithRead
Life at the greatest and best is but a froward child, that must be humored and coaxed a little till it falls asleep, and then all the care is over.
Oliver GoldsmithRead
Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,_x000D_ _x000D_ Adorns and cheers our way;_x000D_ _x000D_ And still, as darker grows the night,_x000D_ _x000D_ Emits a brighter ray.
Oliver GoldsmithRead

Similar quotes

It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, The holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration; the broad sun Is sinking down in its tranquillity; The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the sea: Listen! the mighty being is awake, And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thundereverlastingly.
William WordsworthRead
Eating is an environmental act.
Alice WatersRead
How sweet is the perception of a new natural fact!
Henry David ThoreauRead
I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Langston HughesRead
Scent is the soul of flowers, and sea flowers, as splendid as they may be, have no soul!
Jules VerneRead
Nature is probably quite indifferent to the aesthetic preferences of mathematicians.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.