--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I…" description: "\"“ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I met this extraordinary English tree expert who had devoted himself to saving trees, and he’d just got back f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg" --- # ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I met this… ![“ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I met this extraordinary English tree expert who had devoted himself to saving trees, and he’d just got back from Washington lobbying to save the Redwoods. And he was eighty-four years old, and he always travels with a backpack because he never knows where…” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg) > ““ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I met this extraordinary English tree expert who had devoted himself to saving trees, and he’d just got back from Washington lobbying to save the Redwoods. And he was eighty-four years old, and he always travels with a backpack because he never knows where he’s going to be tomorrow. And when I met him at Findhorn he said to me, “Where are you from?” And I said, “New York.” And he said, “Ah, New York, yes, that’s a very interesting place. Do you know a lot of New Yorkers who keep talking about the fact that they want to leave, but never do?” And I said, “Oh, yes.” And he said, “Why do you think they don’t leave?” And I gave him different banal theories. And he said, “Oh, I don’t think it’s that way at all.” He said, “I think that New York is the new model for the new concentration camp, where the camp has been built by the inmates themselves, and the inmates are the guards, and they have this pride in this thing that they’ve built—they’ve built their own prison—and so they exist in a state of schizophrenia where they are both guards and prisoners. And as a result they no longer have—having been lobotomized—the capacity to leave the prison they’ve made or even to see it as a prison.” And then he went into his pocket, and he took out a seed for a tree, and he said, “This is a pine tree.” And he put it in my hand. And he said, “Escape before it’s too late.”” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes how people can become trapped in their own self‑imposed prisons, unable to see or leave them, likening it to a concentration camp built by its inmates. **In simple terms:** People can create mental prisons that keep them stuck. Key Takeaway Recognize and break free from self‑imposed limits. Themes psychology urban life freedom self‑awareness Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal reflection - urban planning - mental health - community activism Key Concepts identity societal critique mental confinement Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel trapped by your environment? - How can you identify your own mental prisons? A Different Perspective The metaphor may over‑simplify complex socioeconomic factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concentration camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentration-camp/) [New yorkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-yorkers/) [Redwoods Eighty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/redwoods-eighty-4090605/) [Save Redwoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/save-redwoods-4090608/) [Saving Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving-trees-4090607/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) [Tree Expert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree-expert-4090606/) [Tree Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree-said-442999/) ## Related quotes > [It takes 15 trees to produce the amount of paper that we use to write one exam. Join us in promoting the noble cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azgraybebly-joslan/it-takes-15-trees-to-produce-the-amount-of-paper-that-we-use-to-write/) [Azgraybebly Joslan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azgraybebly-joslan/) > [“The story of the young woman whose death I witnessed in a concentration camp. It is a simple story. There is little to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/the-story-of-the-young-woman-whose-death-i-witnessed-in-a/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [NO tree it is said can grow to heaven unless its root reach down to hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-tree-it-is-said-can-grow-to-heaven-unless-its-root-reach-down-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“They had buried him under our elm tree, they said -- yet this was not totally true. For he really lay buried in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-morris/they-had-buried-him-under-our-elm-tree-they-said-yet-this-was-not/) [Willie Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-morris/) > [“...because I really haven't even done drugs, and she kept looking at me like maybe I was lying just to get her out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-michael-thomas/because-i-really-haven-t-even-done-drugs-and-she-kept-looking-at-me/) [Ford Michael Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-michael-thomas/) > [“Morty trusted trees far more than he did people. 'You know what a tree can and cannot give you,' he said in one interview.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/morty-trusted-trees-far-more-than-he-did-people-you-know-what-a-tree/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-tree-it-is-said-can-grow-to-heaven-unless-its-roots-reach-down-to/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [In the country It seems as if every tree Said to me 'Holy! Holy!' Who can ever express The ecstasy of the woods! Almighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-van-beethoven/in-the-country-it-seems-as-if-every-tree-said-to-me-holy-holy-who-can/) [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-van-beethoven/) > [“This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/this-young-woman-knew-that-she-would-die-in-the-next-few-days-but/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [“It is not a Christmas tree!" said the King, so firmly that all the girls stopped jumping about. "This is a house of mourning.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-dixon/it-is-not-a-christmas-tree-said-the-king-so-firmly-that-all-the-girls/) [Heather Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-dixon/) > [("Let's stand under a tree," she said. "Why?" "Because it's nicer." "Maybe you should sit on a chair, and I'll stand above you, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/let-s-stand-under-a-tree-she-said-why-because-it-s-nicer-maybe-you/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“See that tree?" It was a stubby cypress tree, all bent and twisted. "Yeah, I see it." "It's my favorite tree." "It's not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/see-that-tree-it-was-a-stubby-cypress-tree-all-bent-and-twisted-yeah/) [Benjamin Alire Saenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [“And then the thrashing of the wind against the house and then what might have been a volley of pistol shots, and then a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/and-then-the-thrashing-of-the-wind-against-the-house-and-then-what/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Delusional thinking, obviously, the other acorns concluded, but one of them continued to engage him in conversation: “So tell us, how would we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-chestnut/delusional-thinking-obviously-the-other-acorns-concluded-but-one-of/) [Beatrice Chestnut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-chestnut/) > [As soon as I turned the key I saw it hanging, the color of fire and sunset. the colour of flamboyant flowers. ‘If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rhys/as-soon-as-i-turned-the-key-i-saw-it-hanging-the-color-of-fire-and/) [Jean Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rhys/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Concentration camp quotes > [“The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action… There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-frankl/the-experiences-of-camp-life-show-that-man-does-have-a-choice-of/) [Viktor Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-frankl/) > [“The only lesson I got pounded into me was about man's limitless capacity for vice - that and the fact that social distinctions vanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chol-hwan-kang/the-only-lesson-i-got-pounded-into-me-was-about-man-s-limitless/) [Chol-Hwan Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chol-hwan-kang/) > [“Emotion constricted Hawke’s throat. He suddenly understood why the victims of concentration camps had walked quietly to the gas chambers. In the face of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marlantes/emotion-constricted-hawke-s-throat-he-suddenly-understood-why-the/) [Karl Marlantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marlantes/) > [If writing with a goal - whether it be evangelistic, apologetic, or didactic - implies propaganda, then all recorded history is propaganda. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/if-writing-with-a-goal-whether-it-be-evangelistic-apologetic-or/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [“This time of year, the purple blooms were busy with life- not just the bees, but butterflies and ladybugs, skippers and emerald-toned beetles, flitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wiggs/this-time-of-year-the-purple-blooms-were-busy-with-life-not-just-the/) [Susan Wiggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wiggs/) > [There will be in the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude and producing dictatorship without tears, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/there-will-be-in-the-next-generation-or-so-a-pharmacological-method/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [I didn't equate a POW camp with a concentration camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-hovis/i-didn-t-equate-a-pow-camp-with-a-concentration-camp/) [Larry Hovis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-hovis/) > [As I see it, our revolutionary task is to destroy phallic identity in men and masochistic non-identity in women--that is, to destroy the polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/as-i-see-it-our-revolutionary-task-is-to-destroy-phallic-identity-in/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“He main retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. Dostoevsky said once, 'There is only one thing that I dread: not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/he-main-retain-his-human-dignity-even-in-a-concentration-camp/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [The question is not whether the system works, but whether we like the way it works. Just because something works doesn't mean it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-question-is-not-whether-the-system-works-but-whether-we-like-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without trial or hearing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-korematsu/as-long-as-my-record-stands-in-federal-court-any-american-citizen-can/) [Fred Korematsu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-korematsu/) > [“Each of us has his own inner concentration camp... We must deal with, with forgiveness and patience-as full human beings, as we are and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-frankl/each-of-us-has-his-own-inner-concentration-camp-we-must-deal-with/) [Viktor Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-frankl/) > [You can do business with America or the authoritarian dictators of Beijing, who oppress their own people, put millions of Muslims in concentration camps,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/you-can-do-business-with-america-or-the-authoritarian-dictators-of/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [...women who 'adjust' as housewives, who grow up wanting to be 'just a housewife,' are in as much danger as the millions who walked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-friedan/women-who-adjust-as-housewives-who-grow-up-wanting-to-be-just-a/) [Betty Friedan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-friedan/) > [ \[Albert\]Camus had denounced the gulag and Stalin's trials. Today we can see that he was right. To say that there were concentration camps in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-camus/albert-camus-had-denounced-the-gulag-and-stalin-s-trials-today-we-can/) [Catherine Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-camus/) [Browse all 283 Concentration camp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concentration-camp/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I met this extraordinary English tree expert who had devoted himself to saving trees, and he’d just got back from Washington lobbying to save the Redwoods. And he was eighty-four years old, and he always travels with a backpack because he never knows where he’s going to be tomorrow. And when I met him at Findhorn he said to me, “Where are you from?” And I said, “New York.” And he said, “Ah, New York, yes, that’s a very interesting place. Do you know a lot of New Yorkers who keep talking about the fact that they want to leave, but never do?” And I said, “Oh, yes.” And he said, “Why do you think they don’t leave?” And I gave him different banal theories. And he said, “Oh, I don’t think it’s that way at all.” He said, “I think that New York is the new model for the new concentration camp, where the camp has been built by the inmates themselves, and the inmates are the guards, and they have this pride in this thing that they’ve built—they’ve built their own prison—and so they exist in a state of schizophrenia where they are both guards and prisoners. And as a result they no longer have—having been lobotomized—the capacity to leave the prison they’ve made or even to see it as a prison.” And then he went into his pocket, and he took out a seed for a tree, and he said, “This is a pine tree.” And he put it in my hand. And he said, “Escape before it’s too late.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-this-extraordinary-english-tree/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Concentration camp" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-this-extraordinary-english-tree/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/945/anonymous-1_concentration-camp_andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-th_2895673.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“ANDRÉ: . . . And when I was at Findhorn I met this extraordinary English tree expert who had devoted himself…” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“ANDRÉ: . . . And when...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-this-extraordinary-english-tree/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/andr-and-when-i-was-at-findhorn-i-met-this-extraordinary-english-tree/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```