by Alois Hans Schram (1864–1919)
She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.
― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
But on paper, things can live forever.
On paper, a butterfly never dies.
― Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming
Vintage painting oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Digitally altered version can be downloaded as an 8" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.
Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.