In my continual attempt to reduce the entirety of the human experience into one-page blog posts, today I compare and contrast “Hot House Flowers” and “Flowering Weeds,” which you're probably clever enough to figure out are intended as metaphors for different types of human personalities.
So... Here we go...
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Hot House Flowers
Flowering Weeds
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Fragile and costly and rare
Hearty and cheap and abundant
Highly valued for their uncommon beauty
Reviled for their commonness
Can really brighten up a room
Can really brighten up a vacant lot
Can bring tears to your sweetheart's eyes when given as a bouquet
Can bring tears to the eyes of a significant portion of the earth's mammalian population every spring.
Require many resources and much external care in order to flourish
Make efficient use of whatever resources are available in order to survive in inhospitable environments
Are separate, cut off from the greater biological sphere. They produce nothing, only consume.
Are a vital part of the natural system, providing pollen for bees, food for birds and insects, and fertilizer when they die – just to name a few contributions
Likely to be found in beautiful cut glass vases on marble topped tables in the finest establishments in the world
Likely to be found woven into fairy princess crowns on the heads of little girls around the world
Will decorate your funeral momentarily
Will decorate your grave eternally
A weed sprouting through a crack in a Manhattan sidewalk is actually pushing all of New York City out of its way. Wherever you find yourself, seek the sunlight.