They chop down 100ft trees
To make chairs
I bought one
I am six-foot one inch
When I sit in the chair
I’m four foot two.
Did they really chop down a 100ft tree
To make me look shorter?

—Spike Milligan

“Listen to me buddy,” I said. “Humans are no different than trees. Some trees have a hard life from the time they germinate from seeds. If they’re lucky they grow in a favorable spot, many barely survive in another area. Some are overtopped and shaded all their lives by their parents, some are felled when they are young to make room for others, some are broken by weather (or life), some simply get crowded out by others. Many die prematurely by disease. But there are always the survivors and they grow to the limit of their capabilities. We’re like this, and the fact that you’re sitting here tells me one thing. Only when someone or something dies, is the work finished. As long as you’re alive you still have something to do. So…get on with it!”

—Girvan Harrison, Out Roddie’s Way: Lessons on Matters Pertaining to the Forest