'Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.'

'Roses are red, violets are blue' has a long, twisting history

The earliest known use of the phrase, a stock romance form used in greeting cards, is in Edmund Spenser's "The Faery Queen" from 1590 (excerpt below). By 1785, Joseph Ritson updated the verse and connected it to Valentine's Day, creating a cliché that's still used today.

'Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul—and sings the tunes without the words—and never stops at all.'

- Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

A quote by Florence Nightingale

"Poetry and imagination begin life."

'Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.'

- Maya Angelou

'Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.'

- Rapper Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)

'If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.'

- Marine biologist and author Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer inspired the modern, romantic version of Valentine's Day

In the 1380s, the "Canterbury Tales" author wrote "The Parliament of Fowls," a 700-line poem about birds that choose their mates on St. Valentine's Day. The poem argued that romantic love—for fowls and humans alike—was an ideal, and linked the holiday with that sentiment.

'Hearts are the strongest when they beat in response to noble ideals.'

- American diplomat Ralph Bunche (1904–1971)

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'

-Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963)

'How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' - Anne Frank

'All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate … I choose love.'

-Johnny Cash (1932-2003)

'The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.'

- Poet Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

'I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.'

- Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992)

One Mary Cassatt painting features a sly political message

Critics had long been puzzled by the unrealistic flower pinned to the woman's chest in the 1905 painting "Mother and Child." In exploring the painting's history, researcher Nikki Georgopulos discovered that the flower alluded to a women's suffrage badge popular at the time, something Cassatt emphasized in the painting's original title, "Woman With a Sunflower."

A group of 88 kindergarteners creates heartfelt centerpieces defining what love is for their teacher's wedding

Ahead of her big day, a kindergarten teacher came up with an idea to have her students help decorate her wedding tables. Teachers prompted their students to fill out the prompt "love is…" and found that the children shared a variety of heartfelt responses.

'The bounty of nature is also one of the deep needs of man.'

- Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007)

A quote by Lauren Bacall

"Imagination is the highest kite one can fly."

'The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first, Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop'd.'

- Poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Farmer secretly plants sunflower field for 50th anniversary with wife

Kansas farmer Lee Wilson wanted to give something special to his wife of 50 years, Renee, on their golden anniversary, so he secretly planted 80 acres of sunflowers in May for an August bloom. The gift consists of roughly 1.2 million sunflowers,...

'All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.'

- "The Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

During her lifetime, Emily Dickinson was better known as a gardener than a poet.

Maya Angelou's 1993 recitation of 'On the Pulse of Morning' at President Bill Clinton's inauguration was a historic event

After Robert Frost in 1961, Angelou became the second poet in history to read a poem at a presidential inauguration. She was also the first African American and woman. The poem includes themes of change, inclusion, and the responsibility of both the President and citizens to create success in a country.

'Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy ... That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

-Harper Lee (1926-2016) in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

'Her own thoughts and reflections were habitually her best companions.'

- Legendary author Jane Austen (1775 -1817)

'Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch.'

- Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)

'I can’t go back to yesterday–because I was a different person then.'

- "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" author Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898)

The poem behind 'Strange Fruit'

"Bitter Fruit" was written by Abel Meeropol, a teacher, under the pseudonym Lewis Allen, after seeing a photograph of a lynching. Eventually, he set the words to music, and the song was then performed by his wife and other singers. In 1938, he played it for Holiday, who began performing it at the New York's Cafe Society. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

A medievalist explains how romantic love emerged as a cultural concept

Many long-form stories written in English were originally considered "romances," a term derived from the Old French word for "the speech of the people." But changes in medieval culture, triggered by a number of 12th-century church reforms, led to a new interest in what we now consider romantic love, including a new view of marriage as a pursuit of love rather than a transaction. Those new perspectives were then reflected in the period's popular stories, including stories in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales."

Whitman’s lesser-known eulogy for Lincoln, ‘When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d'

In addition to "O Captain! My Captain!," Whitman wrote another poem for the slain Lincoln: the longer, more sullen elegy, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”

'The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them'

- Ida B. Wells, co-founder of the NAACP (1862-1931)

'The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.'

- Saint Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

A quote by Lucille Ball

"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

1928: A quote from Amelia Earhart

"Ours is the commencement of a flying age, and I am happy to have popped into existence at a period so interesting."

A quote from Van Gogh

"Find things beautiful as much as you can, most people find too little beautiful."

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

'If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.'

- Activist Dorothy Height (1912-2010)

Emily Dickinson was a prolific baker

Dickinson scholars have collected her recipes for gingerbread, doughnuts, and more, noting that she often wrote poems on the backs of them. The Emily Dickinson Museum says that the kitchen "was a space of creative ferment for her, and that the writing of poetry mixed in her life with the making of delicate treats."

Poet Oliver Wendell wrote an unofficial fifth verse for the anthem

Francis Scott Key’s version features four verses, though only one is usually performed. American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote an additional fifth verse during the Civil War, lamenting the country’s internal division.

'Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.'

- Actress Julie Andrews (1935 - present)

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

'You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.'

- Musician and activist Joan Baez (1941-present)

President Abraham Lincoln was inspired by a novel to create the holiday

A writer and abolitionist from New Hampshire, Sarah Josepha Hale was instrumental in cementing many of the Thanksgiving traditions we celebrate today. Her 1852 novel "Northwood, a Tale of New England," described a feast with a roasted turkey, stuffing, plum pudding, and pumpkin pie. She wrote dozens of editorials and letters to politicians campaigning for the day to become a national holiday. In 1863 she was finally successful in convincing President Lincoln to make it official.

'The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.'

- Marine biologist and environmentalist Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Browse Emily Dickinson's collection of plant life

The poet began collecting plant life as a teen and assembling a herbarium, a collection of dried and pressed plants. The original book is housed in Harvard's rare book collection, but you can view digital scans of every page through the university's digital library.

'At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.'

- Singer Tina Turner (1993–2023)

'I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.'

- Author Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.'

- Playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Read a 19th-century guide to writing a Valentine's Day card

Thomas Richardson's "London Fashionable Gentleman's Valentine Writer" offers readers romantic messages they can send to the objects of their eyes—along with some chippy kiss-offs for unwanted suitors. It might be sincere, or it might be satire. Either way, it's an entertaining read. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Romanticism was an 18th and 19th century creative movement

The movement emphasized the beauty of nature and human feeling. It was inspired by reactions against classical traditions, social injustices, technological change, and the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Although the movement spanned literature, visual art, music, poetry, and architecture, some of its most recognizable works are paintings.

The history and significance of rosemary

Rosemary is more than just an herb—it’s a powerful symbol intertwined with ancient Egypt, Christianity’s origins, Shakespeare, the culinary arts, and more. Native to the Mediterranean area, this plant has accompanied humanity for centuries, providing us with pleasant aroma, adornment, and even medicine. Explore this article for further insight into the significance of our long-standing relationship with rosemary.