100 Tree Quotes About Life And Love

Strong and tall, these tree quotes will show you how significant it is to establish roots that are built to last.

Trees are essential for life.

They are a crucial factor to our existence not only because they provide us with the materials for tools and shelter, but because they play a vital role in the carbon cycle.

They give us clean air, reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, act as natural air conditioners, and provide important habitats for the world’s wildlife.

Without trees, life could not exist on earth.

There would be no rain, our soils would be unprotected, and the air would be unsuitable for breathing

We need trees now more than ever!

If you’re looking for a powerful and affordable way to make a positive difference to the environment, go out and plant a tree today.

Below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking tree quotes, tree sayings, and tree proverbs, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Look through our complete collection of inspirational quotes here.

Tree Quotes To Make You Want To Plant Roots

1. “He who plants a tree. Plants a hope.” – Lucy Larcom

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2. “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

3. “Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.” – John Muir

4. “Alone with myself the trees bend to caress me the shade hugs my heart” – Candy Polgar

5. “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett

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6. “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

7. “You can’t have the fruits without the roots.” ― Stephen Covey

8. “For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” – Martin Luther

9. “Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. Can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish.” ― Munia Khan

10. “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” – Nelson Henderson

Tree quotes that will inspire you to be more compassionate toward your surroundings

11. “I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty and the miracles of life and growth.” ― Louise Dickinson Rich

12. “The best friend on earth of man is the tree. When we use the tree respectfully and economically, we have one of the greatest resources on the earth.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright

13. “The only thing that ultimately matters is to eat an ice-cream cone, play a slide trombone, plant a small tree, good God, now you’re free.” – Ray Manzarek

14. “To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, to live as a people, we must have trees.”― Theodore Roosevelt

15. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”  ― Chinese Proverb

16. “A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” – Basil

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17. “He that plants trees, loves others besides himself.” – Thomas Fuller

18. “Of all man’s works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that.” – Henry Ward Beecher

19. “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” – Mahatma Gandhi

20. “A man doesn’t plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.” – Alexander Smith

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Tree quotes that will make you want to go plant one today

21. “That each day I may walk unceasingly on the banks of my water, that my soul may repose on the branches of the trees which I planted, that I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycamore.” – Egyptian tomb inscription

22. “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.” – Theodore Roosevelt

23. “Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.” ― Herman Hesse

24. “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” – Martin Luther

25. “Reversing deforestation is complicated; planting a tree is simple.” – Martin O’Malley

26. The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility.” ― Wendell Berry

27. “It is difficult to realize how great a part of all that is cheerful and delightful in the recollections of our own life is associated with trees.” – Wilson Flagg

28. “Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.” – Khalil Gibran

29. “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” – Greek Proverb

30. “This solitary Tree! a living thing produced too slowly ever to decay; of form and aspect too magnificent to be destroyed.” – William Wordsworth

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Tree quotes to remind you how our very breath depends on their conservation

31. “I said to the almond tree, ‘Friend, speak to me of God,’ and the almond tree blossomed.” – Nikos Kazantzakis

32. “Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.” – Albert Schweitzer

33. “You know me, I think there ought to be a big old tree right there. And let’s give him a friend. Everybody needs a friend.” ― Bob Ross

34. “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.” – William Blake

35. “If a tree dies, plant another in its place.” – Carolus Linnaeus

36. “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

37. “And see the peaceful trees extend their myriad leaves in leisured dance—they bear the weight of sky and cloud upon the fountain of their veins.” – Kathleen Raine

38. “We can learn a lot from trees: they’re always grounded but never stop reaching heavenward.” – Everett Mamor

39. “Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.” – Hermann Hesse

40. “The only time I can really relax is up a tree or somewhere outside. I love being outside.” – Tom Felton

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Tree quotes to inspire and teach

41. “Of the infinite variety of fruits which spring from the bosom of the earth, the trees of the wood are the greatest in dignity.” – Susan Fenimore Cooper

42. “I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.” – John Muir

43. “If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” – Jack Handey

44. “The trees are God’s great alphabet: With them He writes in shining green across the world His thoughts serene.” – Leonora Speyer

45. “I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.” – Willa Cather

46. “Though a tree grows so high, the falling leaves return to the root.” – Malay proverb

47. “To be able to walk under the branches of a tree that you have planted is really to feel you have arrived with your garden. So far we are on the way: we can now stand beside ours.” – Mirabel Osler

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48. “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

49. “A tree which has lost its head will never recover it again, and will survive only as a monument of the ignorance and folly of its Tormentor.” – George William Curtis

50. “People who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world that will not sustain people.” ― Bryce Nelson

More tree quotes and sayings

51. “Live like a tree, giving, forgiving and free.” – Debasish Mridha M.D.

52. “Every living creature should be grateful to every living tree for giving us a habitable world!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

53. “For a tree without a past is like a man without roots; and unless we stand in rich soil, our leaves will blow like blossom into the night.” – Richard Ayoade

54. “Some people are like trees, they take forever to grow up.” – Nitya Prakash

55. “You must always know your roots if you are to know how sturdy the tree will grow.” – Zoraida Córdova

56. “Look at a tree, a plant. How still they are, how deeply rooted in being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.” – Eckhart Tolle

57. “The next generation will never be able to understand the joy of planting a tree and watching it grow.” – Nitya Prakash

58. “I’m planting a tree to teach me to gather strength from my deepest roots.” – Andrea Koehle Jones

59. “To be without trees would, in the most literal way, to be without our roots.” – Richard Mabey

60. “Losing the trees may lead to the extinction of mankind.” – Steven Magee

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Inspirational tree quotes about life and love

61. “Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death.” — William Blake

62. “Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” — Khalil Gibran

63. “If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree.” — Jim Rohn

64. “Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree.” — Rabindranath Tagore

65. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln

66. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson

67. “All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

68. “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” — Marcus Garvey

69. “Nothing on this earth is standing still. It’s either growing or it’s dying. No matter if it’s a tree or a human being.” — Lou Holtz

70. “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” — Bruce Lee

Insightful trees quotes to appreciate nature more

71. “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” ― John Muir

72. “If I were a tree, I would have no reason to love a human.” ― Maggie Stiefvater

73. “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” ― Chris Maser

74. “Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.” ― Chad Sugg

75. “A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.” ― George R.R. Martin

76. “Trees’re always a relief, after people.” ― David Mitchell

77. “Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind. Their leaves are telling secrets. Their bark sings songs of olden days as it grows around the trunks. And their roots give names to all things. Their language has been lost. But not the gestures.” ― Vera Nazarian

78. “If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, doesn’t it just lie there and rot?” ― Chuck Palahniuk

79. “When trees burn, they leave the smell of heartbreak in the air.” ― Jodi Thomas

80. “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

Tree Quotes To Celebrate Mother Nature

81. “Not all trees give fruit, but all trees give shadow.” ― Amit Kalantri

82. “Character is like a tree and reputation is like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” ― Abraham Lincoln

83. “For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

84. “The first guy who came up with the concept of religion was sitting out under a tree. I’m sure of that.” ― Tom T. Hall

85. “For us to bear the fruits of our trees, the roots need to go beneath.” ― Goitsemang Mvula

86. “Every craggy and gnarled tree has its own strange and graceful legend attached to it.” ― Douglas Hyde

87. “Trees are right at the heart of all the necessary debates: ecological, social, economic, political, moral, religious.” ― Colin Tudge

88. “Those who seek out the comfort of trees are usually on a journey for meaning, wisdom.” ― Jessica Marie Baumgartner

89. “The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.” ― Henry Ward Beecher

90. “He who plants a tree is a servant of God.” ― Louis L’Amour

Tree Quotes To Make You Adore Nature

91. “We with our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest… But the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground.” — William James

92. “Man is nature as much as the trees.” — Dan Kiley

93. “As an instrument of planetary home repair, it is hard to imagine anything as safe as a tree.” — Jonathan Weiner

94. Tree at my window, window tree, My sash is lowered when night comes on; But let there never be curtain drawn Between you and me.” — Robert Frost

95. “If I thought I was going to die tomorrow, I should nevertheless plant a tree today.” —  Stephen Girard

96. “We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

97. Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.” — Mark Twain

98. “A people without children would face a hopeless future;  a country without trees is almost as helpless.” — Theodore Roosevelt

99. “Even as a tree has a single trunk, but many branches and leaves, there is one religion but any number of faiths.” — Mahatma Gandhi

100. “Be like a tree. The tree gives shade even to him who cuts off its boughs.” — Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Which of these tree quotes was your favorite?

Trees are vital.

Whether it’s combating climate change, cleaning the air, shading our homes and streets, conserving energy, saving water, or preventing soil erosion, trees play an important role in our world.

Today, the value of trees keeps increasing as their role expands to meet the needs brought by our modern lifestyles.

We hope the quotes above have inspired you to conserve trees and plant more of them.

If you loved these tree quotes, check out our acorn quotes!

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