--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To those whom the tree, the birds, the…" description: "\"To those whom the tree, the birds, the wildflowers represent only \"locked-up dollars\" have never known or really seen these things.\" — Edwin Way Teale" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg" --- # To those whom the tree, the birds, the wildflowers… ![“To those whom the tree, the birds, the wildflowers represent only "locked-up dollars" have never known or really seen these things.” quote by Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg) > “To those whom the tree, the birds, the wildflowers represent only "locked-up dollars" have never known or really seen these things.” [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Those who only see nature as monetary value miss its intrinsic beauty and wonder. **In simple terms:** Missing the true beauty of nature when valuing it only for money. Key Takeaway Appreciate nature beyond its economic worth. Themes environment materialism spirituality Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - outdoor recreation - urban planning - education - policy Key Concepts ecology philosophy of value Questions to Reflect On - How can we shift perception from profit to preservation? - What personal habits foster deeper nature appreciation? A Different Perspective Economic pressures can dominate environmental decisions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Dollars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollars/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Wildflowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wildflowers/) ## Related quotes > [Dollars have never been known to produced character, and character will never be produced by money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-keith-kellogg/dollars-have-never-been-known-to-produced-character-and-character/) [Will Keith Kellogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-keith-kellogg/) > [The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues--self-restraint. Why cannot I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/the-long-fight-to-save-wild-beauty-represents-democracy-at-its-best-2/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [No matter how chaotic it is, wildflowers will still spring up in the middle of nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-crow/no-matter-how-chaotic-it-is-wildflowers-will-still-spring-up-in-the/) [Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-crow/) > [“That night, I fell into a deep, travel-weary sleep, lulled by the familiar sound of the waterfall beyond the window. I dreamed of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-gaynor/that-night-i-fell-into-a-deep-travel-weary-sleep-lulled-by-the/) [Hazel Gaynor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-gaynor/) > [“He'd devoured the goat in two bites, then gone back to enjoying the wildflowers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/he-d-devoured-the-goat-in-two-bites-then-gone-back-to-enjoying-the/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [Almost every person, from childhood, has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-bird-johnson/almost-every-person-from-childhood-has-been-touched-by-the-untamed/) [Lady Bird Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-bird-johnson/) > [“At the edge of the lot, wildflowers had taken over, forming a thick border. I stopped to pick a bouquet of gold buttercups and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-simses/at-the-edge-of-the-lot-wildflowers-had-taken-over-forming-a-thick/) [Mary Simses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-simses/) > [How do you press a wildflower into the pages of an e-book?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-buzbee/how-do-you-press-a-wildflower-into-the-pages-of-an-e-book/) [Lewis Buzbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-buzbee/) > [She gazed toward the marsh that grew thicker, deeper, greener with approaching summer. Mosquitoes whined in there, breeding in the dark water. Alligators slid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/she-gazed-toward-the-marsh-that-grew-thicker-deeper-greener-with/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Very little grows on jagged rock. Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers will come up where you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/very-little-grows-on-jagged-rock-be-ground-be-crumbled-so-wildflowers/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Let me drink from the waters where the mountain streams flood Let the smell of wildflowers flow free through my blood Let me sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/let-me-drink-from-the-waters-where-the-mountain-streams-flood-let-the/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I am already kindly disposed towards you. My friendship it is not in my power to give: this is a gift which no man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/i-am-already-kindly-disposed-towards-you-my-friendship-it-is-not-in/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [“They are my wildflowers, pushing their way through the dirt and stretching up to the sun. My wildflowers have required me to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-avis/they-are-my-wildflowers-pushing-their-way-through-the-dirt-and/) Heather Avis > [Wildflower corners are easy to maintain, but once gone, they are hard to rebuild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/wildflower-corners-are-easy-to-maintain-but-once-gone-they-are-hard/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [“The arbutus is now open everywhere in the woods and groves. How pleasant it is to meet the same flowers year after year! If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-fenimore-cooper/the-arbutus-is-now-open-everywhere-in-the-woods-and-groves-how/) Susan Fenimore Cooper ## More by Edwin Way Teale > [“It is those who have compassion for all life who will best safeguard the life of man. Those who become aroused only when man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/it-is-those-who-have-compassion-for-all-life-who-will-best-safeguard/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [The seasons, like greater tides, ebb and flow across the continents. Spring advances up the United States at the average rate of about fifteen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/the-seasons-like-greater-tides-ebb-and-flow-across-the-continents/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [It is morally as bad not to care whether anything is true or not...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/it-is-morally-as-bad-not-to-care-whether-anything-is-true-or-not/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [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/) > [To the lost man, to the pioneer penetrating a new country, to the naturalist who wishes to see the wild land at its wildest,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/to-the-lost-man-to-the-pioneer-penetrating-a-new-country-to-the/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [Freedom from worries and surcease from strain are illusions that always inhabit the distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/freedom-from-worries-and-surcease-from-strain-are-illusions-that/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [A man who never sees a bluebird only half lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/a-man-who-never-sees-a-bluebird-only-half-lives/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [If man can take care of man, nature can take care of the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/if-man-can-take-care-of-man-nature-can-take-care-of-the-rest/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [“Time is the river. We are the islands. Time washes around us and flows away and with it flow fragments of our lives. So,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/time-is-the-river-we-are-the-islands-time-washes-around-us-and-flows/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/for-man-autumn-is-a-time-of-harvest-of-gathering-together-for-nature/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals 'love' them. But those who respect their natures and wish to let them live normal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/those-who-wish-to-pet-and-baby-wild-animals-love-them-but-those-who/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [If I were to choose the sights, the sounds, the fragrances I most would want to see and hear and smell--among all the delights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/if-i-were-to-choose-the-sights-the-sounds-the-fragrances-i-most-would/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [Our minds, as well as our bodies, have need of the out-of-doors. Our spirits, too, need simple things, elemental things, the sun and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/our-minds-as-well-as-our-bodies-have-need-of-the-out-of-doors-our/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [I see, when I bend close, how each leaflet of a climbing rose is bordered with frost, the autumn counterpart of the dewdrops of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/i-see-when-i-bend-close-how-each-leaflet-of-a-climbing-rose-is/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [How strangely inaccurate it is to measure length of living by length of life! The space between your birth and death is often far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/how-strangely-inaccurate-it-is-to-measure-length-of-living-by-length/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) [Explore all 43 Edwin Way Teale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To those whom the tree, the birds, the wildflowers represent only \"locked-up dollars\" have never known or really seen these things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edwin Way Teale" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wildflowers-represent-only/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bird" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wildflowers-represent-only/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf2/edwin-way-teale-15465_bird_to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wil_2920579.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To those whom the tree, the birds, the wildflowers represent only \"locked-up dollars\" have never known or…” — Edwin Way Teale", "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": "Edwin Way Teale", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To those whom the tree, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wildflowers-represent-only/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/to-those-whom-the-tree-the-birds-the-wildflowers-represent-only/#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 } } ] } ```