Saying that trees are vital and that without them life as we know it would not exist is an understatement. In addition to giving you life, trees are basically a portal of your past, present, and future. To honor these magnificent plants, I’ve come up with 31 quotes about trees that are guaranteed to blow you away.
If nothing else, these quotes will at least show you why you have to cherish trees, and just how important they are. But I hope they inspire you to make a change, get off your chair, and plant a couple of trees yourself. That’s what they did for me, at least.
31 Touching Quotes About Trees That Transcend Time
Quotes About Trees to Inspire You to Plant One (Or a Hundred) Yourself
1. “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” ― Nelson Henderson
2. “To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, to live as a people, we must have trees.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
3. “The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.” ― George Orwell
4. “Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking.” ― Wangari Maathai
5. “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” ― Chinese proverb
6. “Reversing deforestation is complicated; planting a tree is simple.” ― Martin O’Malley
7. “If a tree dies, plant another in its place.” ― Carolus Linnaeus
8. “The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow-growing, and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, ‘In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!’” ― John F. Kennedy
9. “He that plants trees loves others besides himself.” ― Thomas Fuller
Spiritual Quotes About Trees That Show How Deeply You Are Connected to Them
10. “A tree is our most intimate contact with nature.” ― George Nakashima
11. “But down deep, at the molecular heart of life, we’re essentially identical to trees.” — Carl Sagan
12. “Trees do not preach learning and precepts. They preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.” ― Herman Hesse
13. “The symbolism ― and the substantive significance ― of planting a tree has universal power in every culture and every society on Earth, and it is a way for individual men, women, and children to participate in creating solutions for the environmental crisis.” ― Al Gore
Quotes About Trees That Serve as Excellent Life Lessons
14. “Learn character from trees, values from roots, and change from leaves.” ― Tasneem Hameed
15. “Be like a tree. The tree gives shade even to him who cuts off its boughs.” ― Sri Chaitanya
16. “A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that, in order to aspire, we need to be grounded, and that no matter how high we go, it is from our roots that we draw sustenance.” ― Wangari Maathai
17. “People who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world that will not sustain people.” ― Bryce Nelson
18. “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt
19. “In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.” ― Paulo Coelho
20. “We have nothing to fear and a great deal to learn from trees, that vigorous and pacific tribe which, without stint, produces strengthening essences for us, soothing balms, and in whose gracious company we spend so many cool, silent, and intimate hours.” ― Marcel Proust
Beautiful Quotes About Trees That Honor All of Their Grace and Glory
21. “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” — Kahlil Gibran
22. “The best friend on Еarth of man is the tree. When we use the tree respectfully and economically, we have one of the greatest resources on the Еarth.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright
23. “Love is like a tree; it grows of its own accord, it puts down deep roots into our whole being.” ― Victor Hugo
24. “Trees are the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory. They speak his praises without flattery, and they are blessings to children yet unborn.” ― Lord Orrery
25. “How could you not be hopeful if you’ve got a tree around?” ― Ross Spears
26. “Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. How can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish.” ― Munia Khan
27. “Between every two pine trees, there is a door leading to a new way of life.” ― John Muir
28. “All of our wisdom is stored in the trees.” ― Santosh Kalwar
29. “Trees are the Еarth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.” ― Rabindranath Tagore
30. “To be poor and be without trees, is to be the most starved human being in the world. To be poor and have trees, is to be completely rich in ways that money can never buy.” ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
31. “I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty, and the miracles of life and growth.” ― Louise Dickinson Rich
Final Thoughts
I know that you don’t need me to tell you how important and beautiful trees are. But I feel like, for all the things they do, trees don’t get enough credit. They’ve given us so much, and yet they don’t get the love that they deserve.
To help you see just how magnificent they are, I thought that I should share my absolute favorite quotes about trees. These quotes always brighten my day and make me smile and want to be a better person. I hope that they do the same for you.