--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was five, a tree was my best…" description: "\"When I was five, a tree was my best friend. An old peppercorn on Grandpa's little farm. I'd haul myself into its calloused arms and hide from the world..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/phillip-adams-26945_adults_when-i-was-five-a-tree-was-my-best-frien_2673185.png" --- # When I was five, a tree was my best friend. An old… ![“When I was five, a tree was my best friend. An old peppercorn on Grandpa's little farm. I'd haul myself into its calloused arms and hide from the world in its foliage. Apart from the pleasure of looking down on unsuspecting adults, I could be Robin Hood in a one-tree Sherwood Forest or Johnny…” quote by Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/phillip-adams-26945_adults_when-i-was-five-a-tree-was-my-best-frien_2673185.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/phillip-adams-26945_adults_when-i-was-five-a-tree-was-my-best-frien_2673185.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdb/phillip-adams-26945_adults_when-i-was-five-a-tree-was-my-best-frien_2673185.png) > “When I was five, a tree was my best friend. An old peppercorn on Grandpa's little farm. I'd haul myself into its calloused arms and hide from the world in its foliage. Apart from the pleasure of looking down on unsuspecting adults, I could be Robin Hood in a one-tree Sherwood Forest or Johnny Weissmuller in his jungle. I fell out of my friend once while Tarzan-ing. Gashed a large chunk from a leg. Almost 70 years later, there's still a scar.” [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adams reminisces about a childhood tree that served as a sanctuary and imaginative playground, shaping his sense of adventure and resilience despite physical injury. **In simple terms:** A tree was his childhood sanctuary and source of imagination. Key Takeaway Cherish natural spaces for growth and healing. Themes nature imagination childhood resilience memory Mood nostalgic reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - forest therapy - storytelling workshops - nature retreats - educational programs Key Concepts environmental psychology play theory personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - What role do natural spaces play in development? - How do childhood memories influence adult identity? A Different Perspective Physical risks can accompany adventurous play. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) [Best friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-friend/) [Farms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farms/) [Flora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flora/) [Foliage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foliage/) [Forest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forest/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Jungle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jungle/) [My best friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-best-friend/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Robin hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robin-hood/) [Robins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robins/) [Scar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scar/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Unsuspecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unsuspecting/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green, And sweet as Flora. Take no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/rise-and-put-on-your-foliage-and-be-seen-to-come-forth-like-the-2/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [The design of the gum is expressed in the flow of it trunk and limbs, and the design of the European tree mainly in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-heysen/the-design-of-the-gum-is-expressed-in-the-flow-of-it-trunk-and-limbs/) Hans Heysen > [The old dead trees are the most fascinating - the countless trees lying in the gullies and up the hills that fell perhaps a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/the-old-dead-trees-are-the-most-fascinating-the-countless-trees-lying/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Later, in a different home, I befriended a eucalypt, using a resilient bough as a trampoline. Learning nothing from having plummeted from the peppercorn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/later-in-a-different-home-i-befriended-a-eucalypt-using-a-resilient/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Fate intervened. Some of us, that day, she led inexorably through the gates of death. Some of us, innocent and unsuspecting, took, unwillingly, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/fate-intervened-some-of-us-that-day-she-led-inexorably-through-the/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“Ninety percent of a shirt that not only was bright purple and green but with a design on it that, if you moved too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-black/ninety-percent-of-a-shirt-that-not-only-was-bright-purple-and-green/) [Lewis Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-black/) > [Occasionally an unsuspecting innocent will stumble into a movie like this and send me an anguished postcard, asking how I could possibly give a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/occasionally-an-unsuspecting-innocent-will-stumble-into-a-movie-like/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [My mother was a feminist, and she gave me some tools of self-possession and self-empowerment, but now that I have lived here for forty-three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/my-mother-was-a-feminist-and-she-gave-me-some-tools-of-self/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [For a long time I felt that FDR had developed many thoughts and ideas that were his own to benefit this country, the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-bean-dall/for-a-long-time-i-felt-that-fdr-had-developed-many-thoughts-and-ideas/) Curtis Bean Dall > [The affected modesty of most women is a decoy for the generous, the delicate, and unsuspecting; while the artful, the bold, and unfeeling either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-affected-modesty-of-most-women-is-a-decoy-for-the-generous-the/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [A cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/a-cut-glass-english-accent-can-fool-unsuspecting-americans-into/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“It is unclear if corporate governments are truly the dunces of human health or if they are just faking it in order to propagate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unclear-if-corporate-governments-are-truly-the-dunces-of-human/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davidson/accidents-ambush-the-unsuspecting-often-violently-just-like-love-it/) [Andrew Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davidson/) > [A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/a-movie-is-not-about-what-it-is-about-it-is-about-how-it-is-about-it/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [It takes little or nothing to undo reputations, the merest trifle makes and remakes them, it is simply a question of finding the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/it-takes-little-or-nothing-to-undo-reputations-the-merest-trifle/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) ## More by Phillip Adams > [Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/most-people-can-do-extraordinary-things-if-they-have-the-confidence/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Advertising men and politicians are dangerous if they are separated. Together they are diabolical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/advertising-men-and-politicians-are-dangerous-if-they-are-separated/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [The Internet provides a delivery system for pathological states of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/the-internet-provides-a-delivery-system-for-pathological-states-of/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Later, in a different home, I befriended a eucalypt, using a resilient bough as a trampoline. Learning nothing from having plummeted from the peppercorn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/later-in-a-different-home-i-befriended-a-eucalypt-using-a-resilient/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [“I've spent a life-time attacking religious beliefs and have not wavered from a view of the universe that many would regard as bleak. Namely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/i-ve-spent-a-life-time-attacking-religious-beliefs-and-have-not/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Marx was wrong. Religion is not the opiate of the people. Opium suggests something soporific, numbing, dulling. Too often religion has been an aphrodisiac…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/marx-was-wrong-religion-is-not-the-opiate-of-the-people-opium/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [The book can produce an addiction as fierce as heroin or nicotine, forcing us to spend much of our lives, like junkies, in book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/the-book-can-produce-an-addiction-as-fierce-as-heroin-or-nicotine/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [“I became aware of Jews in my early teens, as I started to pick up the signals from the Christian church. Not that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/i-became-aware-of-jews-in-my-early-teens-as-i-started-to-pick-up-the/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [The old dead trees are the most fascinating - the countless trees lying in the gullies and up the hills that fell perhaps a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/the-old-dead-trees-are-the-most-fascinating-the-countless-trees-lying/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [The events of September 11 were carried out by people armed not with weapons of mass destruction, but with blades you can buy at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/the-events-of-september-11-were-carried-out-by-people-armed-not-with/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Unless you are willing to try, fail miserable, and try again, success won't happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/unless-you-are-willing-to-try-fail-miserable-and-try-again-success/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [The most intense hatreds are not between political parties but within them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/the-most-intense-hatreds-are-not-between-political-parties-but-within/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [Unless you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/unless-you-re-willing-to-have-a-go-fail-miserably-and-have-another-go/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [It's a privilege to present 'Late Night Live'. No radio program, anywhere on Earth, casts a wider net.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/it-s-a-privilege-to-present-late-night-live-no-radio-program-anywhere/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [While sticks and stones break bones, words can never hurt? Manifestly untrue. Politics everywhere are holistic, interconnected, and the rhetoric of right or left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/while-sticks-and-stones-break-bones-words-can-never-hurt-manifestly/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) [Explore all 21 Phillip Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) ## More Adults quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/education-for-most-people-means-trying-to-lead-the-child-to-resemble/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. I do believe that young adults go to college to learn things, and that this process will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-weingarten/i-do-not-believe-in-public-shaming-i-do-believe-that-young-adults-go/) [Gene Weingarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-weingarten/) > [The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance”: “The differences between expert performers and normal adults are not immutable, that is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-anders-ericsson/the-role-of-deliberate-practice-in-the-acquisition-of-expert/) K. 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As much as we like them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-abagnale/when-i-was-a-child-at-sixteen-i-was-just-a-child-all-sixteen-year/) [Frank Abagnale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-abagnale/) [Browse all 3,113 Adults quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was five, a tree was my best friend. An old peppercorn on Grandpa's little farm. I'd haul myself into its calloused arms and hide from the world in its foliage. Apart from the pleasure of looking down on unsuspecting adults, I could be Robin Hood in a one-tree Sherwood Forest or Johnny Weissmuller in his jungle. I fell out of my friend once while Tarzan-ing. Gashed a large chunk from a leg. 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