21 Quotes about Planting Seeds for Spiritual Growth
“Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?” “Earth!” he repeated. “What do you mean?” “To plant seeds in — to make things grow — to see them come alive.” — Frances H. Burnett, The Secret Garden
There's just something about seeing things grow, about seeing them sprout up from seemingly nowhere at all -- it's as close to magic as love is. Pretty close to it, anyway.
I wanted to share these quotes about planting seeds with you today, not because it's the season for it, but because it's *always* the season to sow a little good karma.
You plant seeds every single day, in the world and in others, with every thought you think and word you speak and action you take. You have influence. You're making a dent in the universe and you matter, in a very real way.
These quotes talk about taking personal responsibility for what we do and say. And I think that's something worth talking about.
Just like a garden needs its rain and sunlight and weeding, your relationships need to be tended... by YOU. The things you want to change and improve need commitment... from YOU.
*You* need a certain level of self-awareness to understand your own impact on the world around you. To realize you have power over how you experience your experiences. And to see that you hold the seeds of all sorts of healing in your own hands.
So, here's to the curiosity that keeps wonder alive.
Here's to taking it one day at a time.
Here's to growing more patient in seasons of waiting, and more resilient because of all we've been through.
Here’s to all the things we’d like to watch grow more beautiful this year. And here's to being part of the making of that beauty.
21 Quotes about Planting Seeds for a New Beginning
Sow What You Want to Reap
- “Every leaf that grows will tell you: what you sow will bear fruit, so if you have any sense my friend, don’t plant anything but Love.” — Rumi
- “The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other with us in our minds wherever we go.” — Martha Washington
- “Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. The harvest can either be flowers or weeds.” — William Wordsworth
- “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
- “Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant — a seed — this plants the giant miracle.” — Ann Voskamp
Tend Your Relationships
- “The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.” — Leo Buscaglia
- “You never quite know what you do in life that leaves a seed behind that grows into an oak tree.” — Michael Portillo
- “An ordinary favor we do for someone or any compassionate reaching out may seem to be going nowhere at first, but may be planting a seed we can't see right now. Sometimes we need to just do the best we can and then trust in an unfolding we can't design or ordain.” — Sharon Salzberg
- “We can’t change people, but we can plant seeds that may one day bloom in them.” — Mary Davis
Cultivate Resilience in the Hard Seasons
- “The tiny seed knew that in order to grow it needed to be dropped in dirt, covered in darkness, and struggle to reach the light.” — Sandra Kring
- “For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.” — Cynthia Occelli
- “Life does not accommodate you; it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container, or else there would be no fruition.” — Florida Scott-Maxwell
- “The seeds of resilience are planted in the way we process the negative events in our lives.” — Sheryl Sandberg
- “When your heart is broken, you plant seeds in the cracks and pray for rain.” — Andrea Gibson
- “Love is the seed of all hope. It is the enticement to trust, to risk, to try, to go on.” — Gloria Gaither
Have Faith in the Process
- “To see things in the seed, that is genius.” — Lao Tzu
- “A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.” — John Ciardi
- “Keep planting new seeds until your mind becomes the earth that gives birth to new worlds.” — Curtis Tyrone Jones
- “Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” — Hamilton, the Musical
- “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” — Henry David Thoreau
- “A seed knows how to wait… a seed is alive while it waits.” — Hope Jahren
. . .
Tell me:
Which of these quotes is your favorite right now?
Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I’d love to know!
~ Jen
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Comments on this post (30)
A WISE MAN ONCE SAID, IN ORDER TO BECOME ONE WITH THE EARTH ONE MUST FIRST START BY PLANTING A SIMPLE SEED IN THE GROUND AND THEN CAR FOR IT EACH DAY ALLOWING THE SEED TO GROW.
YOU MUST CARE FOR THE EARTH BEFORE THE EARTH CARES ABOUT YOU.
— Michael J Lantz
Thank you so much for this post! It’s exactly what I was looking for!
I do have one small thing to mention. Having read lots and lots of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, his quote just felt like he wouldn’t have said that or at least phrase it that way. And in fact, it does seem to be misattributed, originally in a book in 1988 and the misattribution carried on and on from there.
— Joseph Fuhr
I am an artist who distributes 10,000 sunflower seeds every year in my neighborhood. This year I am connecting growing seeds with nurturing and caring for our children. I loved a lot of what I read here on your site. The energy is lovely. Please add me to your list. My fav for the day:
“When your heart is broken, you plant seeds in the cracks and pray for rain.” — Andrea Gibson
So many are suffering with depression and anxiety. Good to know that even our cracks provide the possibility of change…
— Ekua
Hi Lorraine, yes you may. <3
— Jennifer Healey
Hello,
My favorite quotes were “For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.” — Cynthia Occelli and “Life does not accommodate you; it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container, or else there would be no fruition.” — Florida Scott-Maxwell.
These quotes really spoke to me in the aspect of my Christian walk. Being rooted has been a theme right now and these two quotes stood out because the quote referencing becoming completely undone is so true. When you decide to walk with Jesus, you leave old things behind. You become a new creature and your way of life changes. It may look like you’ve been broken, but just like a caterpillar goes into a cocoon and emerges a butterfly. That cocoon has to be broken.
— Ieisha
Hi Jen, I am making up a photo display for a niece who is both an author and a gardener. Could I please use the quote “you plant seed every single day”? It is exactly the words I wanted to use. Thank You!!
— Lorraine Connell
Thank you for all the wonderful quotes. I will be using these quotes and your reflections when I take class for junior sisters. Beautiful work dear. Send to me some meaningful quotes and reflections like this suiting for religious.
— Jisha Jacob
Sonya, your words touched my heart. Bless your son and his girl, and their baby boy who is still here in flesh, and their baby who has passed into the “next room” over. May you all be free and find peace, connection, purpose in life’s small moments. So much love to you all. x
— Jennifer Williamson
I was looking for a quote about “the risk to remain tight in a bud being greater than the risk it takes to blossom”, and, I too, came across your page. It’s a day later and I had to come back to your page and absorb more of its content. I love too many too choose just one favorite. As many have commented, I believe in the power of words and attitude that can change ones, and others, experience. September will be 2years since our baby granddaughter’s ,Taylor, passing. Her passing has left the parents(my son and his girl) in a wake of destruction and but for their little boy, Cole, they would find no reason to live. Though it has left a very painful and dark hole in my heart, I look to God for comfort and healing and try to plant positive, loving “seedlings” to her parents and to whomever may cross my path. Thank you for your intentions and spreading seedlings of hope. God Bless you
“Keep planting new seeds until your mind becomes the earth that gives birth to new worlds.” — Curtis Tyrone Jones
Sonya
— Sonya
High Brave Planter. I asked Siri How to Plant Kumguat Seeds from the fruit & She made a Fantastic Mistake. . She took me to Your BeaUtiful “ 21~ Quotes For Planting Seeds“. It Cheered My Day✨ THaNkYoU✨
— Marta Hoch
A seed of hope upon the wind
Finds grace and love in you my friend.
— Susan
I love Your quotes. I put out once a week what I call " Illumination for the Heart, Soul, and Spirit" May I use the quotes that you have from other individuals. What I use is mostly quotes from devotional I read. I always say who the quote is from. Started March of 2020 during the pandemic to bring people hope. I send it out mostly to people that I know and family.
I have also written three small books called “Reflections” I give them to whoever wants them. They are all free and Christian based. I can send you a copy of both " Illumination for the Heart, Soul, and Spirit" and Reflections if you wish. I have been a Christian for 48 years and married for 51 years to the same great women God gave me.
Chuck
— Chuck Paradis
Seeds, seeds
The tiniest of things
Through love,
Patience,
And nurture,
Will often grow
Into the most
Beautiful of things
— Nancy Sullenberger
Elra, you’re very welcome to quote with credit, thank you for asking and for sharing! :)
— Jennifer Williamson
Hello! May I re-use these phrases; in my video vlog? I will acknowledge it in my description box and put the link of your blog. Thank u so much and God bless always:)) Joy
You plant seeds every single day, in the world and in others, with every thought you think and word you speak and action you take. You have influence. You’re making a dent in the universe and you matter, in a very real way.
Just like a garden needs its rain and sunlight and weeding, your relationships need to be tended… by YOU. The things you want to change and improve need commitment… from YOU.
You need a certain level of self-awareness to understand your own impact on the world around you. To realize you have power over how you experience your experiences. And to see that you hold the seeds of all sorts of healing in your own hands.
— Elra Joy
He who plants a seed plants a hope.
— Hannah Hackett
Tom, that’s a beautiful line… I’ve never come across that quote before, so maybe it was something he came up with. :)
— Jennifer Williamson
when I was in sixth grade, Canarsie , Brooklyn, my pop was invited to talk to the class, about his profession, engineering.
he ended the talk with the following reflection. I always thought he got it from somewhere, but I cannot find it elsewhere:
“Every thought , every deed is a well planted seed
in this garden of life we call character”.
I wonder if he actually created it himself. can’t ask him now, unfortunately. he died in 2003.
thank you for your website, Ms. Williamson.
— tom fiero
Truly inspirational! Thank you very much.
— Bronwyn Lottering
Thank you for sharing this, Lynn! And for doing such a beautiful thing for so many people. The world is lucky to have you.
— Jennifer Williamson
I fell upon your site quite by accident.I am sending packets of seeds to more than 200 people this year with the the quote that FAITH creates the seed…And LOVE makes it grow. It is the upcoming of the Jewish New Year and I am writing a text using the parable that in the seed we can all help to renew the world. Your insights will inspire me to further my thoughts for renewing the spirit, soul, and mind set. Thank YouTo Life! To Love!
— Lynn
Was, I’m so glad this could inspire you and help you plant your own seeds!
— Jennifer Williamson
I liked “When your heart is broken, you plant seeds in the cracks and pray for rain.” — Andrea Gibson
— Peter
Dear Jen,
With all due respect,
I just want to thank you to the extent of planting a seed right here.
I was almost finished with writing my heart out, with no motive what so ever, but for some reason, I got stuck, for all obvious cases, I turned to the internet and stumbled upon your page and your intro, Voila! You helped me release the heavens in my brains.
— “Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?” “Earth!” he repeated. “What do you mean?” “To plant seeds in — to make things grow — to see them come alive.”
— Frances H. Burnett, The Secret Garden.
This worked wonders for lost souls like me, I am happy for stoping by and ending up dropping seeds, I was not aware, could exist.
Gracias & Asante Sana.
-Was
— Waseem
Niolah, I’m so glad these words found you when you needed them! Sending you my love. x
— Jennifer Williamson