The Overstory

by Richard Powers

Chestnut is quick: By the time an ash has made a baseball bat, a chestnut has made a dresser.

If you want a person to help you, convince them that they’ve already helped you beyond saying. People will work hard to protect their legacy.

You have given me a thing I could never have imagined, before I knew you. It’s like I had the word “book,” and you put one in my hands. I had the word “game,” and you taught me how to play. I had the word “life,” and then you came along and said, “Oh! You mean this.”