The Wisdom of the Elderroot

[According to the introductory page, this collection of sayings and chants are the work of the ancient tree Elderoot. Presumably they have been transcribed from dictation.]

You can plant a tree near water, but you cannot make its roots absorb water and nutrients. That will happen naturally.

A lie can travel around the entire planetwhile the truth is still putting down roots.

I do not spare great concern for the future, for my roots are buried deep within the soil of the past

A growing root can break a stone when a hammer blow cannot All that is required for the former is patience; all that is required for the latter is strength.

A tree strives ever upward, reaching for the sun and stars. Those who walk on the ground strive to and fro, upward and downward. I do not say one is better than the other, but the striving tree lives many times longer than the walking animal.

I am not the only one of my kind with deep thoughts. One must simplv listen more closelv for the words of the others.

I once thought there was no crisis urgent enough to warrant thoughtless action. Now l know this for a fact; There is alwavs time to consider.

To the insect a tree is the universe. To the universe, even the tree is an insect.