The beauty of things is in this moment of their ripeness that God waits for. If anyone were to taste the leaves or flowers of a cherry tree, he would make a wrong evaluation of it. If anyone were to judge the cool shade of trees in winter weather and by their appearance in this season, he would make a rather blind evaluation of them. Yet we likewise pass judgment on God's government and its purposes.
[Johann Georg Hamann, The Complete London Writings, Kleinig, tr., Lexham Academic (Bellingham: 2025), pp. 219-220. This is a comment on Ecclesiastes 3:11.]
