Chasing butterflies
I was just trying to tend my garden and not ruin the beautiful view and a lovely metaphor drifted in from the internet:
The secret is not to chase butterflies… it's to tend to your garden, and they will come to you. And even if they don't, you'll still have a beautiful garden.
It's a modern meme, pieced together from a supposedly German proverb (whether that's true or not is unclear): "Das Glück ist ein Schmetterling. Jag ihm nach, und er entwischt dir. Setz dich hin, und er lässt sich auf deiner Schulter nieder." (Happiness is a butterfly. Chase it, and it eludes you. Sit down quietly, and it settles on your shoulder.)
It also seems to be frequently misattributed to the Englishman Nathaniel Hawthorne, likely because it appeared in an 1891 book of quotations where his name was printed right next to the phrase.
But later, it was rephrased more beautifully by the Brazilian poet Mário Quintana (1906–1994):
"O segredo é não correr atrás das borboletas... É cuidar do jardim para que elas venham até você." (The secret is not to chase the butterflies... It's to tend the garden so that they come to you.)
Tags: quotesphilosophyinteresting
