All flowers dress for the afternoon except the rose, whose shoulders overflow her haunches like a duchess trailing courtly robes. The flower has no weekday self, dressed as it always is in Sunday clothes. An anonymous crowd often intensifies our moral solitude but it has the tonic effect of making us feel at home in our own bodies.
Crowds are especially good for people who are physically dissatisfied with themselves.
Men and women who lament the passing of their looks should forget about cosmetics and milk baths and simply immerse themselves in crowds. Plant roots wear thin or thick-soled shoes according to the rugosity of the soil. The gloves worn by leaves correspond to the kind of air they flourish in. The tree clasps its bark close in winter and loosens it in summer, like a man slipping his shirt-tails out on a hot day. There is no standard of good taste to surpass a flower's.