Alexander Smith Quotes

He plants trees to benefit another generation.

Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity.

One must care about a world one will not see.

Hence it is that old men do plant young trees, the fruit whereof another age shall take.

I'd like to think that the actions we take today will allow others in the future to discover the wonders of landscapes we helped protect but never had the chance to enjoy ourselves.

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.

One generation plants the trees. Another gets the shade.

Why we should put ourselves out of our way to do anything for posterity, for what has posterity ever done for us?

Just as our forefathers saved and invested to build what we, the current generation, are enjoying today, so, too, we must plant trees so that our sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters, can enjoy the shade.

The only thing I do for posterity is plant trees.

In the fullness of time, when it is our turn to give, we must in turn plant gardens that we may never eat the fruit of, which will benefit the generations to come.

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Sometimes leadership is planting trees under whose shade you'll never sit. It may not happen fully till after I'm gone. But I know that the steps we're taking are the right steps.

Land is not something you inherit from your parents. It is something you borrow from your children.

I beseech you to live not only for this age, but for the next also.

The necessary thing for anyone to be happy and contented as long as he lives is working for the ones who will come after him rather than working for himself... One can reach the true delight and happiness in the life only by working for the existence, honor, and happiness of the future generations.

As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

A thing which I regret, and which I will try to remedy some time, is that I have never in my life planted a walnut. Nobody does plant them nowadays-when you see a walnut it is almost invariably an old tree. If you plant a walnut you are planting it for your grandchildren, and who cares a damn for his grandchildren?

Learn how to grow out of yourself and into the world of others: Plant a shade tree under which you know you will never sit. Set some goals that may benefit your children or an orphanage or the employees of your company or future generations or your own city, fifty years from now.

The planting of trees is the least self-centered of all that we can do. It is a purer act of faith than the procreation of children.

I have withdrawn not only from men, but from affairs, especially my own affairs; I am working for later generations, writing down some ideas that may be of assistance to them.

I plant a lot of trees. I am a great believer in planting things for future generations. I loathe the now culture where you just live for today.

As my dad said, you have an obligation to leave the world better than how you found it. And he also reminded us to be givers in this life, and not takers.

It's not about me, it's about the grandkids. That's what a lot of people don't understand about what Herman is up to.