--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps the old monks were right when…" description: "\"Perhaps the old monks were right when they tried to root love out; perhaps the poets are right when they try to water it. It is a blood-red flower, wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/olive-schreiner-10332_blood_perhaps-the-old-monks-were-right-when-th_135653.png" --- # Perhaps the old monks were right when they tried to root… ![“Perhaps the old monks were right when they tried to root love out; perhaps the poets are right when they try to water it. It is a blood-red flower, with the color of sin; but there is always the scent of a god about it.” quote by Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/olive-schreiner-10332_blood_perhaps-the-old-monks-were-right-when-th_135653.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/olive-schreiner-10332_blood_perhaps-the-old-monks-were-right-when-th_135653.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f0/olive-schreiner-10332_blood_perhaps-the-old-monks-were-right-when-th_135653.png) > “Perhaps the old monks were right when they tried to root love out; perhaps the poets are right when they try to water it. It is a blood-red flower, with the color of sin; but there is always the scent of a god about it.” [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is portrayed as a paradoxical force, both sinful and divine, requiring both suppression and nourishment to be understood. **In simple terms:** Love is both sinful and divine, needing both restraint and care. Key Takeaway Balance restraint and nurturing in love. Themes love paradox spirituality morality artistic expression Mood reflective melancholic inspired Type poetic philosophical metaphorical When to use this quote - relationships - creative writing - spiritual practice - personal growth Key Concepts dual nature redemption human desire Questions to Reflect On - How do you reconcile love’s sinful and sacred aspects? - What does “watering” love mean to you? A Different Perspective Neglecting either aspect can lead to imbalance or loss of depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monk/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Red](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/red/) [Roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roots/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [Surgery is the red flower that blooms among the leaves and thorns that are the rest of medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/surgery-is-the-red-flower-that-blooms-among-the-leaves-and-thorns/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Love is the root of everything. 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And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) ## More by Olive Schreiner > [A word may become so defiled by bad use that it will take a century before it can be purifed, and brought into use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/a-word-may-become-so-defiled-by-bad-use-that-it-will-take-a-century/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [No woman who is a woman says of a human body, 'it is nothing' ... 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They finish everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/they-are-called-finishing-schools-and-the-name-tells-accurately-what/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [“I think,' said Lyndall, 'that he is like a thorn-tree, which grows up very quietly, without any one's caring for it, and one day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/i-think-said-lyndall-that-he-is-like-a-thorn-tree-which-grows-up-very/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [“This dirty little world full of confusion, and the blue rag, stretched overhead for a sky, is so low we could touch it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/this-dirty-little-world-full-of-confusion-and-the-blue-rag-stretched/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [Men are like the earth and we are the moon; we turn always one side to them, and they think there is no other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/men-are-like-the-earth-and-we-are-the-moon-we-turn-always-one-side-to/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [For those of us who have a ground of knowledge which we cannot transmit to outsiders, it is perhaps more profitable to act fearlessly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olive-schreiner/for-those-of-us-who-have-a-ground-of-knowledge-which-we-cannot/) [Olive Schreiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olive-schreiner/) > [“Only the sea is like a human being . . .always moving, always something deep in itself is stirring it. 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But that didn't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/what-about-you-three-where-are-you-going-even-before-halt-answered/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [A day without blood is like a day without sunshine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-lee-ermey/a-day-without-blood-is-like-a-day-without-sunshine/) [R. Lee Ermey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-lee-ermey/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. 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