--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Before this ugly edifice, and between it…" description: "\"Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and su..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_apples_before-this-ugly-edifice-and-between-it_2219632.jpg" --- # Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the… ![“Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a…” quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_apples_before-this-ugly-edifice-and-between-it_2219632.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_apples_before-this-ugly-edifice-and-between-it_2219632.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_apples_before-this-ugly-edifice-and-between-it_2219632.jpg) > “Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison.” [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city’s development crushes natural growth, turning once‑wild spaces into oppressive, artificial environments. **In simple terms:** Urbanization destroys nature. Key Takeaway Preserve green spaces. Themes urbanization environment civilization nature conflict Mood melancholic reflective Type observational critical When to use this quote - city planning - community gardening - environmental activism Key Concepts ecology social critique urban planning Questions to Reflect On - How can cities balance growth with ecological health? - What responsibilities do we have to protect urban nature? A Different Perspective Nature may adapt, but at a cost to biodiversity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apples/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized/) [Civilized society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized-society/) [Edifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edifice/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grass/) [Grass Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grass-plot-4948501/) [Overgrown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overgrown/) [Pigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pigs/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Plot Overgrown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot-overgrown-4948498/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Soil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soil/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Track](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/track/) [Ugly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugly/) [Ugly Edifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugly-edifice-4948499/) [Vegetation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetation/) [Vegetation Evidently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetation-evidently-4948500/) [Weed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weed/) [Wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheels/) ## Related quotes > [I've found a place that would amaze you. People used to live there, but now it's all overgrown and no one goes there. Absolutely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/i-ve-found-a-place-that-would-amaze-you-people-used-to-live-there-but/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [“It was at this time I learned that the human mind is a blackened overgrown place. Society tries to mow the lawn and trim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisha-pessl/it-was-at-this-time-i-learned-that-the-human-mind-is-a-blackened/) [Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisha-pessl/) > [“The world is so overgrown that it can't lift its own fingers, and I was planning to be such an important finger-”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/the-world-is-so-overgrown-that-it-can-t-lift-its-own-fingers-and-i/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [The mind I love must have wild places, a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass, an overgrown little wood, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mansfield/the-mind-i-love-must-have-wild-places-a-tangled-orchard-where-dark/) [Katherine Mansfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mansfield/) > [Like paths and alleys overgrown with hardy, rank-growing weeds, the words we use are overgrown with our individual, private, provincial associations, which tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-themerson/like-paths-and-alleys-overgrown-with-hardy-rank-growing-weeds-the/) [Stefan Themerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-themerson/) > [I'm like an overgrown child! I don't know how to do anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-shaffir/i-m-like-an-overgrown-child-i-don-t-know-how-to-do-anything/) [Ari Shaffir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-shaffir/) > [“Life is like an overgrown garden. You can spend your time cursing the weeds, or you can work to pull them out. In either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-jeffries/life-is-like-an-overgrown-garden-you-can-spend-your-time-cursing-the/) [Sabrina Jeffries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-jeffries/) > [Looking at a first assembly is kind of like looking at an overgrown garden. You can't just wade in with a weed whacker; you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-murch/looking-at-a-first-assembly-is-kind-of-like-looking-at-an-overgrown/) [Walter Murch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-murch/) > [I have a garden of my own, But so with roses overgrown, And lilies, that you would it guess To be a little wilderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-marvell/i-have-a-garden-of-my-own-but-so-with-roses-overgrown-and-lilies-that/) [Andrew Marvell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-marvell/) > [You may think you're married to a woman, but she's really an overgrown child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-yoffe/you-may-think-you-re-married-to-a-woman-but-she-s-really-an-overgrown/) [Emily Yoffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-yoffe/) > [“Depression gets you nowhere but tangled in an overgrown garden that can choke the life out of you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mackayla-lane/depression-gets-you-nowhere-but-tangled-in-an-overgrown-garden-that/) [MacKayla Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mackayla-lane/) > [“She’d had unsettling dreams like this. 'I’m wandering through Miryoku, but it’s not Miryoku. Or it is, but it’s been abandoned and overgrown, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ringle/she-d-had-unsettling-dreams-like-this-i-m-wandering-through-miryoku/) [Molly Ringle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ringle/) > [“But enough of that--here I am. Hineni! How marvelously beautiful it is today. He stopped in the overgrown yard, shut his eyes in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/but-enough-of-that-here-i-am-hineni-how-marvelously-beautiful-it-is/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Even in its ragged state, the garden is astonishingly beautiful. The untended, untouched look of it--- and the ivy-covered walls that protect it on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-donohue/even-in-its-ragged-state-the-garden-is-astonishingly-beautiful-the/) [Meg Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-donohue/) > [“Low branches, dead and snapping against us. On the lookout for rattlesnakes. But the path was short enough, and soon we were on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/low-branches-dead-and-snapping-against-us-on-the-lookout-for/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Explore all 526 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## More Apples quotes > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I named my son Noah for the same reason Chris Martin named his apple: we're asses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/i-named-my-son-noah-for-the-same-reason-chris-martin-named-his-apple/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) > [I think, however, that Astaire's coordination is better than Kelly's... his sense of rhythm is uncanny. Kelly, on the other hand, is the stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyd-charisse/i-think-however-that-astaire-s-coordination-is-better-than-kelly-s/) [Cyd Charisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyd-charisse/) > [“In the back of the fridge I checked out some stewed apples destined to fester. I examined them closely and reckoned they had only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-brown/in-the-back-of-the-fridge-i-checked-out-some-stewed-apples-destined/) [Helen Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-brown/) > [Fortunately, like most children, I had learned what is most valuable, most indispensable for life before school years began, taught by apple trees, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/fortunately-like-most-children-i-had-learned-what-is-most-valuable/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [I'm not only a fan of Apple products, I have stock in the company. I think Steve Jobs has started one of the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-rock/i-m-not-only-a-fan-of-apple-products-i-have-stock-in-the-company-i/) [Kid Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-rock/) > [I love to eat an apple after a meal, just to cleanse my teeth - they always look polished afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-zeta-jones/i-love-to-eat-an-apple-after-a-meal-just-to-cleanse-my-teeth-they/) [Catherine Zeta-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-zeta-jones/) > [I have a friend who is a juggler. If I'm at his house, I don't like to take food from him, if it's in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-have-a-friend-who-is-a-juggler-if-i-m-at-his-house-i-don-t-like-to/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [A comely sight indeed it is to see, a world of blossoms on an apple tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/a-comely-sight-indeed-it-is-to-see-a-world-of-blossoms-on-an-apple/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Like a satellite in orbit, Apple is perpetually falling. It just happens to miss Earth every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-dediu/like-a-satellite-in-orbit-apple-is-perpetually-falling-it-just/) [Horace Dediu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-dediu/) > [I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-have-always-said-if-there-ever-came-a-day-when-i-could-no-longer/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [Positive thinking is so firmly enshrined in our culture that knocking it is a little like attacking motherhood or apple pie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srikumar-rao/positive-thinking-is-so-firmly-enshrined-in-our-culture-that-knocking/) [Srikumar Rao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/srikumar-rao/) > [Therein lies the rub of a place like Berkeley Bowl. You get seduced by an 11-pound apple that turns out to be a fake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jad-abumrad/therein-lies-the-rub-of-a-place-like-berkeley-bowl-you-get-seduced-by/) [Jad Abumrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jad-abumrad/) > [Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion. The apples falling like great drops of dew to bruise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/now-it-is-autumn-and-the-falling-fruit-and-the-long-journey-towards/) [D. H. 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