He even knew the reason why: because enough men had gone off to war saying the time for gardening was when the war was over; whereas there must be men to stay behind and keep gardening alive, or at least the idea of gardening; because once that cord was broken, the earth would grow hard and forget her children. That was why. J.M. Coetzee
About This Quote

In the novel, The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson, the main character explains her sadness at the fact that her mother died because she was not there to keep gardening alive. When she grew up from a child to a young woman, her mother had been gone for many years and she was left with a hole in her life that could never be filled.

Source: Life And Times Of Michael K

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