"(Trees) are like lonely persons, …. like great, solitary men. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; …. they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree."
Hermann Hesse
From "Wandering Notes and Sketches"