--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Before man's fall the rose was born,St…" description: "\"Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the thornWithout the fragrant rose-bud born; But n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png" --- # Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says… ![“Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the thornWithout the fragrant rose-bud born; But ne'er the rose without the thorn.” quote by Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png) > “Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the thornWithout the fragrant rose-bud born; But ne'er the rose without the thorn.” [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human flaws are inseparable from virtues; both arise from the same source. **In simple terms:** Virtue and vice coexist. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection. Themes morality dualism human nature Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - ethical dilemmas - artistic expression Key Concepts interdependence sin beauty Questions to Reflect On - Can virtue exist without flaw? - What does the thorn teach us? A Different Perspective May romanticize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Rose buds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose-buds/) [Rose Thorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose-thorn/) ## Related quotes > [But ne'er the rose without the thorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/but-ne-er-the-rose-without-the-thorn/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [While rose-buds scarcely show'd their hue, But coyly linger'd on the thorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-montgomery/while-rose-buds-scarcely-show-d-their-hue-but-coyly-linger-d-on-the/) [James Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-montgomery/) > [No rose without a thorn but many a thorn without a rose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/no-rose-without-a-thorn-but-many-a-thorn-without-a-rose/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [A stranger's rose is but a thorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-l-peretz/a-stranger-s-rose-is-but-a-thorn/) [I. L. Peretz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-l-peretz/) > [Every rose has a thorn. Never expect others to be perfect when you are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-matobo/every-rose-has-a-thorn-never-expect-others-to-be-perfect-when-you-are/) [Frank Matobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-matobo/) > [“Wherever we go, life and death, rose and thorn, light and darkness will be there waiting all together for us!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/wherever-we-go-life-and-death-rose-and-thorn-light-and-darkness-will/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [All the place we went together were today makng question to me where is the rose! only the thorn,...?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashu/all-the-place-we-went-together-were-today-makng-question-to-me-where/) [Ashu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashu/) > [Every rose has its thorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frann/every-rose-has-its-thorn/) [Frann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frann/) > [“No rose without a thorn. Yes, but many a thorn without a rose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/no-rose-without-a-thorn-yes-but-many-a-thorn-without-a-rose/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Every rose has its thorn but the great beauty of the rose make you forget about the short moment of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-swann/every-rose-has-its-thorn-but-the-great-beauty-of-the-rose-make-you/) Sarah Swann > [“Every rose has a thorn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poison/every-rose-has-a-thorn/) Poison > [“Gather ye rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/gather-ye-rose-buds-while-ye-may-old-time-is-still-a-flying-and-this-2/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/the-glorious-lamp-of-heaven-the-sun/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [To the Virgins, To Make much of Time Gather ye rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/to-the-virgins-to-make-much-of-time-gather-ye-rose-buds-while-ye-may/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [That age is best which is the first When youth and blood are warmer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/that-age-is-best-which-is-the-first-when-youth-and-blood-are-warmer/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) ## More by Robert Herrick > [Love is maintain'd by wealth: when all is spent, Adversity then breeds the discontent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/love-is-maintain-d-by-wealth-when-all-is-spent-adversity-then-breeds/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [It takes great wit and interest and energy to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/it-takes-great-wit-and-interest-and-energy-to-be-happy-the-pursuit-of/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Whatever comes, let's be content withal; Among God's blessings there is not one small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/whatever-comes-let-s-be-content-withal-among-god-s-blessings-there-is/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [When a daffadill I see, Hanging down his head towards me, Guess I may, what I must be: First, I shall decline my head;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/when-a-daffadill-i-see-hanging-down-his-head-towards-me-guess-i-may/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [In ways to greatness think on this, That slippery all ambition is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/in-ways-to-greatness-think-on-this-that-slippery-all-ambition-is/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [“Have ye beheld (with much delight) A red rose peeping through a white? Or else a cherry (double graced) Within a lily? Centre placed?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/have-ye-beheld-with-much-delight-a-red-rose-peeping-through-a-white/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Necessity makes dastards valiant men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/necessity-makes-dastards-valiant-men/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Buying, possessing, accumulating--this is not worldliness. But doing this in the love of it, with no love of God paramount--doing it so that thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/buying-possessing-accumulating-this-is-not-worldliness-but-doing-this/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Tears are the noble language of eyes, and when true love of words is destitute. The eye by tears speak, while the tongue is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/tears-are-the-noble-language-of-eyes-and-when-true-love-of-words-is/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Bid me to live, and I will live Thy Protestant to be: Or bid me love, and I will give A loving heart to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/bid-me-to-live-and-i-will-live-thy-protestant-to-be-or-bid-me-love/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [That age is best which is the first When youth and blood are warmer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/that-age-is-best-which-is-the-first-when-youth-and-blood-are-warmer/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Show me thy feet, show me thy legs, thy thighs Show me those fleshy principalities; Show me that hill where smiling love doth sit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/show-me-thy-feet-show-me-thy-legs-thy-thighs-show-me-those-fleshy/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Hast thou attempted greatnesse? Then go on; Back-turning slackens resolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/hast-thou-attempted-greatnesse-then-go-on-back-turning-slackens/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [Attempt the end and never stand to doubt; Nothing's so hard, but search will find it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/attempt-the-end-and-never-stand-to-doubt-nothing-s-so-hard-but-search/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [The readiness of doing doth expresse No other but the doer's willingnesse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/the-readiness-of-doing-doth-expresse-no-other-but-the-doer-s/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) [Explore all 140 Robert Herrick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [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/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I'm not against gay people. I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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I was born after Valentine's Day, so they wanted to change it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-romero/if-you-can-believe-it-hollywood-wanted-to-change-my-birthdate-i-was/) [Cesar Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-romero/) Browse all 11,606 Born quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the thornWithout the fragrant rose-bud born; But ne'er the rose without the thorn.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Herrick" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-ambrose-says-without-the-thorn/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Born" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-ambrose-says-without-the-thorn/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/adc/robert-herrick-3088_born_before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-a_574705.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Before man's fall the rose was born,St. Ambrose says, without the thorn;But for man's fault then was the…” — Robert Herrick", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Herrick", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Before man's fall the rose was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-ambrose-says-without-the-thorn/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/before-man-s-fall-the-rose-was-born-st-ambrose-says-without-the-thorn/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```