I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.

Do the roots reveal everything to the branches, or do they keep what is painful to themselves?

We are still seeing trees dying from injuries to their root systems, main stems or branches, and we are also finding increased insect activity and disease problems that we wouldn't normally see.

Folks are like plants; we all lean toward the light.

There is only one optimist. He has been here since man has been on this earth, and that is man himself. If we hadn't had such a magnificent optimism to carry us through all these things, we wouldn't be here. We have survived it on our optimism.

Things have their roots and branches. Affairs have their beginnings and their ends.