Plants are decisive to a fault. A stem produces a bud that flowers once and once only. It offers pollen that is either dispersed or goes nowhere. One pollen grain either enters a stigma or it falls upon stony ground. An ovum is either fertilized or the whole project stalls out.
Tags: fault, only, flowers, plants

Other Quotes by "Hope Jahren"

"You are the one for whom the world has waited. And you will give it all back; you will pour out all you know and then wallow knee-deep in thick viscous love, love, love." (From Lab Girl"
Tags: love, love-is, contributing-to-knowledge, contribution-to-society, contributing, giving-back, helping-others-in-need, helping-out, helping-hand, helping-others, world, hope
Even a very little girl can wield a slide rule, the cursor serving as a haft.
Tags: very, little, serving, girl
You can pick wild strawberries with your eyes closed, locating them by smell, for they are two parts perfume to one part taste. An hour of searching might yield a handful if you're lucky. Wild strawberries can't be encouraged, nor can they be discouraged: They come to you unbidden and unearned. They appear, or do not, by the grace of the sun.
Tags: grace, sun, you, eyes
The world is a fickle place, and it's not fair. But if you're getting most of your rewards from you, then you can use that as a kind of compass, and you can be secure in the fact that you're working for the right reason, and you're going in the right direction.
Tags: direction, your, world, you
I am not a farmer; I am a researcher who studies the plants that come to your dinner table, which means that I ask questions for a living.
Tags: farmer, plants, dinner, i-am
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