Mankind, Douglas Adams

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

- Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See (1990)

Flowers, Henry Ward Beecher

Flowers are the sweetest things that God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.

- Henry Ward Beecher, Life Thoughts (1858), p. 234.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Flowers