Chinese Proverb Quotes

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

A man doesn't plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.

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.

He plants trees to benefit another generation.

The fruits of your labors may be reaped two generations from now. Trust, even when you don't see the results.

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.

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

Acknowledging the physical realities of our planet does not mean a dismal future of endless sacrifice. In fact, acknowledging these realities is the first step in dealing with them. We can meet the resource problems of the world - water, food, minerals, farmlands, forests, overpopulation, pollution - if we tackle them with courage and foresight.

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

We accept it because we have seen the vision. We know that we cannot reap the harvest, but we hope that we may so well prepare the land and so diligently sow the seed that our successors may gather the ripened grain.

Instead of passing on choppy waters to the next generation, we should endeavor to leave them a calmer sea.

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.

Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for 'Tis the only thing in this world that lasts, 'Tis the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for - worth dying for.

We must strive to become good ancestors.

We can do things the cheap way, the simple way, for the short-term and without regard for the future. Or, we can make the extra effort, do the hard work, absorb the criticism and make decisions that will cause a better future.

The only thing that can save us as a species is seeing how we're not thinking about future generations in the way we live.

We must all live so that our children do not have to pay for our deeds.

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

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

Clean water is not an expenditure of Federal funds; clean water is an investment in the future of our country.

It needs time. Nobody wants to hear it, but that's the truth: if you want to have success in the future, you have to be ready to work now.

Keep working and saving and striving for a better future for your children, and for their children, even if you won't be around to see it pay off.

Don't be so shortsighted that if it doesn't happen right now, you're not going to be happy. You are sowing seeds that will reap a great harvest for generations to come.

It is our task in our time and in our generation, to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.

All of us should be involved in our own futures to create a world that our children will want to live in.