A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Monday 9 May 2011

Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose


Roses blooming in our garden today


Are you someone who grumbles that roses have thorns or are you grateful that thorns have roses?

13 comments:

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Lovely yellow roses Robert. When pricked by a thorn on a rose, I probably grumble, but I would never consider avoiding roses because of the thorns. When enjoying the beauty of a rose, I don't even recall that they have thorns.

Marianne said...

Life has thorns. fortunately it also has roses.

Dominic Rivron said...

Give me a Venus Fly-Trap every time.

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

I have to admit that I am a prickly grumbler, but it's a good question ...

Phoenix C. said...

I'm a pragmatist who wears thick gloves while blissfully enjoying working among the roses!

Ruth said...

Thorns?

Yellow roses are my favorite, and though red roses say "I love you" and pink ones say "I admire you" yellow ones are for friendship apparently.

I just looked this up. Do you want to know any more answers to questions you didn't ask?

Friko said...

Depends on the mood of the day, I'm afraid. I am not of a permanently sunny disposition. And glad about it, too.

The Solitary Walker said...

Thanks for your responses - revealing such a lot about your innermost psyches!

Yellow roses. I'll settle for friendship every time; it's usually much less fraught and complicated than love.

Ruth said...

Robert, was that last sentence of your comment your response to your question about thorns?

The Solitary Walker said...

Not consciously.

I think love is a red rose with thorns. Or thorns with a red rose. And friendship flowers probably yellow buttercups or cowslips - just a mild astringent.

I tend to see the glass half full rather than half empty, though, so I suppose I'm grateful thorns have roses. It's making the best of things: kind of, well, roses may have thorns, it's inevitable, but at least they have lovely flowers too!

Rilke (and Buddhism) would no doubt advise embracing both thorn and rose equally, for both are necessary and are two sides of the same coin ... You can't have one without the other.

Dan Gurney said...

Roses have two ways of encouraging us to be mindfully aware. They use both the carrot and the stick, as it were. They're the complete package and for that I admire them. I'm grateful roses have thorns; I'm grateful thorns have roses.

Val said...

i think i can smell them

The Solitary Walker said...

Well put, Dan ... and Val, I think I can too. They're right outside my study window!