--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oaks live for six hundred years. Two…" description: "\"“Oaks live for six hundred years. Two hundred to grow, two hundred to live, two hundred to die.”\" — David Mitchell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16f/david-mitchell-264_flower_oaks-live-for-six-hundred-years-two-hund_2927785.jpg" --- # Oaks live for six hundred years. Two hundred to grow, two… ![“Oaks live for six hundred years. Two hundred to grow, two hundred to live, two hundred to die.” quote by David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16f/david-mitchell-264_flower_oaks-live-for-six-hundred-years-two-hund_2927785.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16f/david-mitchell-264_flower_oaks-live-for-six-hundred-years-two-hund_2927785.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16f/david-mitchell-264_flower_oaks-live-for-six-hundred-years-two-hund_2927785.jpg) > ““Oaks live for six hundred years. Two hundred to grow, two hundred to live, two hundred to die.”” [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Trees have long lifespans, with distinct phases of growth, living, and death. **In simple terms:** Life follows growth, living, death cycles. Key Takeaway Respect natural cycles. Themes nature life cycles time Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - environmental education - personal aging - legacy planning Key Concepts ecology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What can we learn from tree lifespans? - How do you view your own life stage? A Different Perspective Human lifespans differ vastly from trees. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) ## Related quotes > [Any fine morning, a power saw can fell a tree that took a thousand years to grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/any-fine-morning-a-power-saw-can-fell-a-tree-that-took-a-thousand/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [It took me years on top of years to grow thick skin and it took me many hurtful days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-briggs/it-took-me-years-on-top-of-years-to-grow-thick-skin-and-it-took-me/) [Shannon Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-briggs/) > [We'll squeeze every second that we can from our lives, because we're young, and we have plenty of years to grow. 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We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-ullman/nobody-grows-old-merely-by-living-a-number-of-years-we-grow-old-by/) [Samuel Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-ullman/) > [Over the years, you grow up, you mature and you see things in a different way, and it's reflected in the writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-diamond/over-the-years-you-grow-up-you-mature-and-you-see-things-in-a/) [Neil Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-diamond/) > [I would never suggest anyone to stay at a company more than six or seven years. We grow as individuals and the world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-christopher-burch/i-would-never-suggest-anyone-to-stay-at-a-company-more-than-six-or/) [J. 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Jenkins > [I will do those things which make me happy today and which I can also live with ten years from now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-iles/i-will-do-those-things-which-make-me-happy-today-and-which-i-can-also/) [Greg Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-iles/) > [You have got to own your days and live them, each one of them, every one of them, or else the years go by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-gardner/you-have-got-to-own-your-days-and-live-them-each-one-of-them-every/) [Herb Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-gardner/) > [One can live for years sometimes without living at all, and then all life comes crowding into one single hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/one-can-live-for-years-sometimes-without-living-at-all-and-then-all/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“I often urge patients to project themselves into the future and to consider how they can live now so that five years hence they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/i-often-urge-patients-to-project-themselves-into-the-future-and-to/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [I've heard it said that winning an Oscar means you live five years longer. If that's true I want to thank the academy because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-ve-heard-it-said-that-winning-an-oscar-means-you-live-five-years/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) ## More by David Mitchell > [“In the next room a freckly girl Julia's age sat in a wheelchair. One of her legs wasn't there. She'd probably love to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/in-the-next-room-a-freckly-girl-julia-s-age-sat-in-a-wheelchair-one/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“I envied my uncritical, unthinking sisters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-envied-my-uncritical-unthinking-sisters/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“... Ethical cyberexplorers are responsible, yeah? We are friendly ghosts in the machine, not poltergeists or hooligans. We are a growing breed. Over sixty-five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/ethical-cyberexplorers-are-responsible-yeah-we-are-friendly-ghosts-in/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“I succumbed. Late-fifteenth-century verb, Old French succomber or Latin succumbere, but a basic necessity of the human condition, especially mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-succumbed-late-fifteenth-century-verb-old-french-succomber-or-latin/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Your environment affects you wherever you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/your-environment-affects-you-wherever-you-are/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“The second tunnel’s a Ministry of Defence tunnel...dug for a nuclear bomb shelter. 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That's trombonists for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/only-the-trombonist-played-on-that-s-trombonists-for-you/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [War's an auction where whoever can pay the most in damage and still be standing wins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/war-s-an-auction-where-whoever-can-pay-the-most-in-damage-and-still/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [The human world is made of stories, not people. The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-human-world-is-made-of-stories-not-people-the-people-the-stories/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [So little is actually worthy of belief or disbelief. 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But if the right words existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/a-classical-lp-was-playing-jealous-and-sweet-this-music-was-sobbing/) [david mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [How lazily "xperts" dismiss what they fail to understand!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/how-lazily-xperts-dismiss-what-they-fail-to-understand/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Writing poetry's,' I looked around the solarium, but Madame Crommelynck's got a tractor beam, 'sort of . . . gay.' '"Gay"? A merry activity?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/writing-poetry-s-i-looked-around-the-solarium-but-madame-crommelynck/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) [Explore all 748 David Mitchell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## More Flower quotes > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. 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