A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.

Sarton uses gardening as a compressed metaphor for the human condition. Most of what a gardener does is contend with failure: plants die, weather ruins plans, pests undo careful work, and time inevitably takes its toll. Yet the occasional bloom, harvest, or successful transplant feels disproportionately meaningful because it is won against constant entropy. By pairing “losses” with “a few triumphs,” she suggests that a good life is not one without setbacks, but one in which small victories—moments of beauty, growth, or connection—justify persistence. The simile “like life itself” turns practical experience into a philosophy of resilience and attentive hope.