--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no way of making a hedge grow…" description: "\"There is no way of making a hedge grow like pruning it. There is no way of making sex interesting like repressing it.\" — Alan Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/alan-watts-587_grows_there-is-no-way-of-making-a-hedge-grow-l_1219117.jpg" --- # There is no way of making a hedge grow like pruning it… ![“There is no way of making a hedge grow like pruning it. There is no way of making sex interesting like repressing it.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/alan-watts-587_grows_there-is-no-way-of-making-a-hedge-grow-l_1219117.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/alan-watts-587_grows_there-is-no-way-of-making-a-hedge-grow-l_1219117.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e15/alan-watts-587_grows_there-is-no-way-of-making-a-hedge-grow-l_1219117.jpg) > “There is no way of making a hedge grow like pruning it. There is no way of making sex interesting like repressing it.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Growth cannot be forced; it thrives when nurtured rather than constrained. **In simple terms:** Growth needs care, not force. Key Takeaway Cultivate gently. Themes growth balance nature Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - relationships - creative projects Key Concepts gardening psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can you nurture growth without imposing control? - What areas need gentle care? A Different Perspective Forceful control stifles natural development. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) ## Related quotes > [“Education is like pruning ; it wrecks the natural growth of the tree in favour of a form that is useful to commercial society”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/education-is-like-pruning-it-wrecks-the-natural-growth-of-the-tree-in/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [“Editing is like pruning the rose bush you thought was so perfect and beautiful until it overgrew the garden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-enright/editing-is-like-pruning-the-rose-bush-you-thought-was-so-perfect-and/) Larry Enright > [Sex is two plus two making five, rather than four. 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Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger-2/) > [It is quite amazing how hard the subconscious works when it is made to understand that this life is not a rehearsal, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burdett/it-is-quite-amazing-how-hard-the-subconscious-works-when-it-is-made/) [John Burdett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burdett/) > [“Love you Neighbor; yet don't pull down your Hedge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ray/love-you-neighbor-yet-don-t-pull-down-your-hedge/) [John Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ray/) > [Love thy neighbor, but pull not down thy hedge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ray/love-thy-neighbor-but-pull-not-down-thy-hedge/) [John Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ray/) > [Once you pledge, don't hedge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/once-you-pledge-don-t-hedge/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [I live in New York and got a call from my agent saying there was this new role on 'Mad Men,' it might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-buono/i-live-in-new-york-and-got-a-call-from-my-agent-saying-there-was-this/) [Cara Buono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-buono/) > [The message from the hedge-leaves, Heed it, whoso thou art; Under lowly eaves Lives the happy heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/the-message-from-the-hedge-leaves-heed-it-whoso-thou-art-under-lowly/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [“The world made no sense when a great prince died so a hedge knight might live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/the-world-made-no-sense-when-a-great-prince-died-so-a-hedge-knight/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [There is a simple rule here, a rule of legislation, a rule of business, a rule of life: beyond a certain point, complexity is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/there-is-a-simple-rule-here-a-rule-of-legislation-a-rule-of-business/) [P. J. 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I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More Flower quotes > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. 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You know deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kreger/sometimes-sometimes-it-is-really-difficult-to-turn-and-walk-away-from/) [David Kreger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kreger/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [A garden has a curious innocent way of consuming cash while all the time you are under the illusion that you are spending nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-meynell/a-garden-has-a-curious-innocent-way-of-consuming-cash-while-all-the/) [Esther Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-meynell/) > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) > [My life is a crystal teardrop. There are snowflakes falling in the teardrop and little figures trudging in slow motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/my-life-is-a-crystal-teardrop-there-are-snowflakes-falling-in-the/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [“But any picture could deal with the problem of light. 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