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

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

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.

Planting a tree is like having a baby

A man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor.

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?