The Overstory: Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

No one sees trees. We see fruit, we see nuts, we see wood, we see shade. We see ornaments or pretty fall foliage. Obstacles blocking the road or wrecking the ski slope. Dark, threatening places that must be cleared. We see branches about to crush our roof. We see a cash crop. But trees—trees are invisible.

The gardener sees only the gardener’s garden. The eyes were not made for such grovelling uses as they are now put to and worn out by, but to behold beauty now invisible. MAY WE NOT SEE GOD?

Trees know when we’re close by. The chemistry of their roots and the perfumes their leaves pump out change when we’re near …. When you feel good after a walk in the woods, it may be that certain species are bribing you. So many wonder drugs have come from trees, and we haven’t yet scratched the surface of the offerings. Trees have long been trying

Sun and water are questions endlessly worth answering.

The Golden Guide to Pond Life,

when you cut down a tree, what you make from it should be at least as miraculous as what you cut down.”

You can watch the hour hand, Mimi finds, hold your eyes on it all around the circle of the clock, and never once see it move.

“The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.”

They can’t believe a kid worked for months on an original idea, for no reason at all except the pleasure of looking until you see something.