Aldo Leopold Quote

Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree—and there will be one.

December: Pines above the Snow, p. 81. - A Sand County Almanac, 1949 - "November: Axe-in-Hand," "November: A Mighty Fortress," and "December: Pines above the Snow"