--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good…" description: "\"“We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good We'll do the best we know. We'll build our house and chop our wood And make our garden grow. And make our garde..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/leonard-bernstein-10475_gardening_we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we_768186.jpg" --- # We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good We'll do the best… ![“We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good We'll do the best we know. We'll build our house and chop our wood And make our garden grow. And make our garden grow!” quote by Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/leonard-bernstein-10475_gardening_we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we_768186.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/leonard-bernstein-10475_gardening_we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we_768186.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/leonard-bernstein-10475_gardening_we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we_768186.jpg) > ““We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good We'll do the best we know. We'll build our house and chop our wood And make our garden grow. And make our garden grow!”” [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human effort combines imperfection with striving, building life’s practical and nurturing growth. **In simple terms:** We do our best despite flaws. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection and keep growing. Themes self-improvement nature work balance Mood hopeful determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - gardening - team projects - creative pursuits Key Concepts effort growth humility Questions to Reflect On - What small step can you take toward growth today? - How do you balance humility with ambition? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can hinder progress if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Education teaches us many things: but nothing worth knowing can be taught. It has to be caught – through fellowship with the true, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-j-p-vaswani/education-teaches-us-many-things-but-nothing-worth-knowing-can-be/) Dada J.P. Vaswani > [The wise man delights in water, the Good man delights in mountains. For the wise move; but the Good stay still. The wise are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-wise-man-delights-in-water-the-good-man-delights-in-mountains-for/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [This is for individuals, lost and wandering , there isn't a better way to grow than to make sure the roots are on fertile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-for-individuals-lost-and-wandering-there-isn-t-a-better-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You give them an environment where they feel they can grow. But also make bloody sure you challenge them. You make sure they realise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/you-give-them-an-environment-where-they-feel-they-can-grow-but-also/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I'm able to come and do a new sound and grow even more and make greater songs because my song-making abilities have grown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ferrell/i-m-able-to-come-and-do-a-new-sound-and-grow-even-more-and-make/) [Will Ferrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-ferrell/) > [One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-altman/one-thing-i-tell-startups-all-the-time-is-that-the-best-way-to-grow/) [Sam Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-altman/) > [Why is pot against the law? It wouldn't be because anyone can grow it, and therefore you can't make a profit off it, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/why-is-pot-against-the-law-it-wouldn-t-be-because-anyone-can-grow-it/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [A beginner must look on himself as one setting out to make a garden for his Lord's pleasure, on most unfruitful soil which abounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-beginner-must-look-on-himself-as-one-setting-out-to-make-a-garden/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One does not begin to make a garden until he wants a garden. To want a garden is to be interested in plants, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liberty-hyde-bailey/one-does-not-begin-to-make-a-garden-until-he-wants-a-garden-to-want-a/) [Liberty Hyde Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liberty-hyde-bailey/) > [you mustn't rely on your flowers to make your garden attractive. A good bone structure must come first, with an intelligent use of evergreen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margery-fish/you-mustn-t-rely-on-your-flowers-to-make-your-garden-attractive-a/) [Margery Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margery-fish/) > [“Look, Samuel, I mean to make a garden of my land. Remember my name is Adam. So far I’ve had no Eden, let alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/look-samuel-i-mean-to-make-a-garden-of-my-land-remember-my-name-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Gardening is like everything else in life, you get out of it as much as you put in. No one can make a garden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margery-fish/gardening-is-like-everything-else-in-life-you-get-out-of-it-as-much/) [Margery Fish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margery-fish/) > [If the art of gardening is at last to turn back from her extravagances and rest with her other sisters, it is, above everything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/if-the-art-of-gardening-is-at-last-to-turn-back-from-her/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [“When I die, bury me with a few garden tools, I shall make a garden in the heaven too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/preeth-nambiar/when-i-die-bury-me-with-a-few-garden-tools-i-shall-make-a-garden-in/) Preeth Nambiar ## More by Leonard Bernstein > [A liberal is a man or a woman or a child who looks forward to a better day, a more tranquil night, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/a-liberal-is-a-man-or-a-woman-or-a-child-who-looks-forward-to-a/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [I think it is time we learned the lesson of our century: that the progress of the human spirit must keep pace with technological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/i-think-it-is-time-we-learned-the-lesson-of-our-century-that-the/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Conducting is like making love to a hundred people at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/conducting-is-like-making-love-to-a-hundred-people-at-the-same-time/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [I'm no longer quite sure what the question is, but I do know that the answer is Yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/i-m-no-longer-quite-sure-what-the-question-is-but-i-do-know-that-the/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Our most emotionally active life is lived in our dreams, and our cells renew themselves most industriously in sleep. We reach highest in meditation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/our-most-emotionally-active-life-is-lived-in-our-dreams-and-our-cells/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/music-can-name-the-unnameable-and-communicate-the-unknowable/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Any asshole can write a tone-row. It takes a composer to write a tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/any-asshole-can-write-a-tone-row-it-takes-a-composer-to-write-a-tune/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [From New Year's on the outlook brightens; good humor lost in a mood of failure returns. I resolve to stop complaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/from-new-year-s-on-the-outlook-brightens-good-humor-lost-in-a-mood-of/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Music, because of its specific and far-reaching metaphorical powers, can name the unnamable and communicate the unknowable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/music-because-of-its-specific-and-far-reaching-metaphorical-powers/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Einstein said that the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. So why do so many of us try to explain the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/einstein-said-that-the-most-beautiful-experience-we-can-have-is-the/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [When the thunder rumbles, Now the age of gold is dead. When the dreams we've clung to Trying to stay young, Have left us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/when-the-thunder-rumbles-now-the-age-of-gold-is-dead-when-the-dreams/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/inspiration-is-wonderful-when-it-happens-but-the-writer-must-develop/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [...we can all shut-up and go back to our caves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/we-can-all-shut-up-and-go-back-to-our-caves/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [I have two answers to everything and one answer to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/i-have-two-answers-to-everything-and-one-answer-to-nothing/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [Mozart's music is constantly escaping from its frame, because it cannot be contained in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/mozart-s-music-is-constantly-escaping-from-its-frame-because-it/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) [Explore all 65 Leonard Bernstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) ## More Gardening quotes > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [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/) > [“In the same way that the picturesque designers were always careful to include some reminder of our mortality in their gardens -- a ruin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-same-way-that-the-picturesque-designers-were-always-careful-to/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Every plant which my heavenly father has not planted with be uprooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesus-christ/every-plant-which-my-heavenly-father-has-not-planted-with-be-uprooted/) [Jesus Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesus-christ/) > [There was a product on late night TV that you could attach to your garden hose - "You can water your hard-to-reach plants with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/there-was-a-product-on-late-night-tv-that-you-could-attach-to-your/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [Plant flowers in others' gardens and your life becomes a bouquet! Submitted by Lisa Letto, Coordinator, Nutrition Resource and Volunteer Centre, College of Pharmacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/plant-flowers-in-others-gardens-and-your-life-becomes-a-bouquet/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [Love and work are to people what water and sunshine are to plants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/love-and-work-are-to-people-what-water-and-sunshine-are-to-plants/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“A flower needs the rain to grow just as much as it needs the sunshine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-mummert/a-flower-needs-the-rain-to-grow-just-as-much-as-it-needs-the-sunshine/) [Teresa Mummert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-mummert/) > [“Mr. Grote shows me how he grows wild rice in the stream and collects the seeds. The rice is nutty and brown. He plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/mr-grote-shows-me-how-he-grows-wild-rice-in-the-stream-and-collects/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [I must hurry back to my house and my flowers in Monaco.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillie-langtry/i-must-hurry-back-to-my-house-and-my-flowers-in-monaco/) [Lillie Langtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillie-langtry/) > [“Look for light Listen for inspiration on the wind Let water cleanse your soul Set yourself on a firm foundation Serve as the plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anasazi-foundation/look-for-light-listen-for-inspiration-on-the-wind-let-water-cleanse/) Anasazi Foundation [Browse all 5,790 Gardening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good We'll do the best we know. 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