--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I am alone the flowers are really…" description: "\"“When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die. Why do I say that? Par..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/may-sarton-897_flower_when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-s_1579830.jpg" --- # When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay… ![“When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die. Why do I say that? Partly because they change before my eyes. They live and die in a few days; they keep me closely in touch with process, with growth, and also with…” quote by May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/may-sarton-897_flower_when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-s_1579830.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/may-sarton-897_flower_when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-s_1579830.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/may-sarton-897_flower_when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-s_1579830.jpg) > ““When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die. Why do I say that? Partly because they change before my eyes. They live and die in a few days; they keep me closely in touch with process, with growth, and also with dying. I am floated on their moments.”” [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Solitude reveals the fleeting beauty of life; observing flowers teaches presence, growth, and mortality. **In simple terms:** Being alone lets one truly notice and feel flowers, reminding of life’s cycles. Key Takeaway Practice mindful observation of nature. Themes mindfulness solitude impermanence growth death presence Mood tranquil reflective poetic Type philosophical inspirational personal When to use this quote - journaling in nature - meditative walks - artistic inspiration - grief processing Key Concepts phenomenology existential reflection nature as metaphor temporal awareness Questions to Reflect On - What does each flower teach you about change? - How can this awareness improve daily presence? A Different Perspective Over‑focus on ephemerality may cause melancholy; balance with lasting meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Felt Presences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-presences-2966115/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Flowers Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers-really-823646/) [Live and die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-and-die/) [Pay attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-attention/) [Presences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presences-560331/) [Presences Die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presences-die-2966114/) ## Related quotes > [When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-seen-i-can-pay-attention-to/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“Some ghosts or felt presences may simply be the essence of another living person projected outward while sleeping.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-dillon/some-ghosts-or-felt-presences-may-simply-be-the-essence-of-another/) [Doug Dillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-dillon/) > [As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-gardener-i-wonder-if-flowers-really-can-t-speak-or-just-exercise/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Flowers really do intoxicate me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/flowers-really-do-intoxicate-me/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) > [I was more of, like, into butterflies, insects, playing out in the yard, planting flowers. I was really into plants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrah-abraham/i-was-more-of-like-into-butterflies-insects-playing-out-in-the-yard/) [Farrah Abraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrah-abraham/) > [Of course, fresh flowers are the answer to any June gloom you may be feeling. Flowers really do solve all problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-moretti/of-course-fresh-flowers-are-the-answer-to-any-june-gloom-you-may-be/) [Mia Moretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-moretti/) > [That's what all painting is about, it”s space and light occupied by human presences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kossoff/that-s-what-all-painting-is-about-it-s-space-and-light-occupied-by/) [Leon Kossoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kossoff/) > [“Her presences or absences din't matter alot i always painted picture with her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonjay-singh/her-presences-or-absences-din-t-matter-alot-i-always-painted-picture/) [Sonjay Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonjay-singh/) > [I think it was rather an advantage not having any living poets in England or America in whom one took any particular interest. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-think-it-was-rather-an-advantage-not-having-any-living-poets-in/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“It was the absences that had made her think, not the presences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/it-was-the-absences-that-had-made-her-think-not-the-presences/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Poetry is not truth, it is the resurrection of presences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/poetry-is-not-truth-it-is-the-resurrection-of-presences/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [People have presences, both online and in real life. You can choose to show everything, meaning all sides of you, or you can choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-systrom/people-have-presences-both-online-and-in-real-life-you-can-choose-to/) [Kevin Systrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-systrom/) > [“What explanation does Ibn Arabi give for these phenomena ? A first explanation invokes the hierarchical planes of being, the Hadarat, or "Presences." There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-corbin/what-explanation-does-ibn-arabi-give-for-these-phenomena-a-first/) [Henry Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-corbin/) > [I think there are presences out there that we can't see or directly communicate with that have benevolent influence on us. Whether they're angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/i-think-there-are-presences-out-there-that-we-can-t-see-or-directly/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [“there are moments when we understand that the earth and the sky and the presences that may lie behind them are always with us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/there-are-moments-when-we-understand-that-the-earth-and-the-sky-and/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) ## More by May Sarton > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [People who cannot feel punish those who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/people-who-cannot-feel-punish-those-who-do/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/one-must-think-like-a-hero-to-behave-like-a-merely-decent-human-being/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Real joy is becoming exceedingly rare among artists of any kind. And I have an idea that those who can and do communicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/real-joy-is-becoming-exceedingly-rare-among-artists-of-any-kind-and-i/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For to be desperate is to discover strength. / We die of comfort and by conflict live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-to-be-desperate-is-to-discover-strength-we-die-of-comfort-and-by/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I see you with that shell Held to your sensitive abstracted ear, Hunting the ocean’s rumor till you hear it well, Until you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-see-you-with-that-shell-held-to-your-sensitive-abstracted-ear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [There is a wilder solitude in winter When every sense is pricked alive and keen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/there-is-a-wilder-solitude-in-winter-when-every-sense-is-pricked/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Why is it that people who cannot show feeling presume that that is a strength and not a weakness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/why-is-it-that-people-who-cannot-show-feeling-presume-that-that-is-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Innocence is not pure so much as pleased, Always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/innocence-is-not-pure-so-much-as-pleased-always-expectant-bright-eyed/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For art is order, but it is born out of the chaos of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-art-is-order-but-it-is-born-out-of-the-chaos-of-life/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) [Explore all 336 May Sarton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## 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. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most girls get flowers or candy. I get a declaration of martial law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-shearin/most-girls-get-flowers-or-candy-i-get-a-declaration-of-martial-law/) [Lisa Shearin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-shearin/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-banks/spring-training-means-flowers-people-coming-outdoors-sunshine/) [Ernie Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-banks/) > [Sometimes, sometimes it is really difficult to turn and walk away from someone you have loved and cherished for so long. 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. The problem with this picture is greater than that of reflective surfaces - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-otto/but-any-picture-could-deal-with-the-problem-of-light-the-problem-with/) [Whitney Otto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-otto/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) [Browse all 12,347 Flower quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would die. Why do I say that? Partly because they change before my eyes. 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