Saskatchewan’s provincial flower, the Western Prairie Lily, grows wild in ditches along the gravel roads and paved highways. It is a ticketable offence to pick one, as they were overharvested by admirers once upon a time.

I have taken to writing only quotes in my paper journal, rather than reporting my day or my week or my thoughts or feelings. If I am reading The Golden Notebook or the Town News or if I hear something said on TV that strikes me as meaningful, as a description or explanation of something I have been experiencing or noticing, I write it down.

Last night it occurred to me that these provide as much of the essence of my inner life as the more diary-like reports do.

I am nearing the end of The Golden Notebook, which has taken a long time to get through. And I’ve copied so many paragraphs. Here is a small, recent sampling, mixed in with a few other things I’ve taken from here and there:

“I think people need other people to be kind to them.” -TGN

“Again the jarring and unpleasantness, the moment I really do not know how to cope with.” - TGN

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” - a local paper

“Ninety per cent of the friction of daily life is caused by the wrong tone of voice.” - newspaper

“One kind act will teach more love of God than a thousand sermons.” -newspaper

“I was stopped short for a moment. Because nothing he had ever said to me, no tone he had ever used, could have prepared me for that remark: it was a weapon from the armoury, jeering and sneering, and it took me by surprise.” -TGN

“I began to cry, I felt as I had in the dream the night before, held fast by the arms while he laughed and hurt me. Meanwhile he was kind and gentle. Then I knew suddenly that the whole thing, this cycle of bullying and tenderness, was for this moment when he could comfort me.” -TGN

“It’s a small painful sort of courage which is at the root of every life, because injustice and cruelty is at the root of life. And the reason why I have only given my attention to the heroic or the beautiful or the intelligent is because I won’t accept that injustice or the cruelty, and so won’t accept the small endurance that is bigger than anything.” -TGN