‘The Overstory’ Quotes for Earth Day 2022
April 22, 2022 | Dara Marie | @thornfield_lane
First off, I would like to apologize for not posting on Monday. Usually, I’m on top of my work and have my writing done well in advance but school, work, and life got the better of me this and last week. I’m back now and don’t plan on going away any time soon. Thanks for your patience! Enjoy my first post of the week!
Today, April 22nd is Earth day. I thought it would be fitting, then, to spotlight the most earth-conscious as well as one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read: The Overstory by Richard Powers.
The novel focuses on a group of characters who all become fascinated by trees and the journey they take to understand them; some through activism, others through science, some through art, others through gardening. That may sound boring, and to be fair, it is a dense read, but the poetry of the writing and rawness of the characters is astounding. One of the best books I read last year.
Here’s a look at some of my favorite quotes:
The tree is saying things, in words before words. (3)
Consciousness and thought fascinate me on a psychological and emotional level. ‘Words before words’ makes me think of instinct, senses, and unconsciousness: a feeling we know before we fully understand and can articulate it.
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Life runs alongside them unseen. (4)
I love this because I think it is so true. How much of life passes by us without even realizing it? This is an excellent reminder to open our eyes and purposefully live. I’ve been super stressed the last few weeks, and when I finally took a break to go into nature with friends rather than working, I realized how much I had missed it. How much I needed to just breathe again.
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There’s something wrong with regular people. They’re far from being the best creatures in the world. (48)
It’s fun to be unique. It’s fun to be different. Some of the best people I know are so uniquely them. Plus, I remember laughing when I read this the first time.
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…life is trying to say something no one hears. (50)
How sad and true this is. I wonder how different society would be if we all just stopped to listen for a moment. Could we find more peace that way?
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Plans in the absence of any planner. Paths in the absence of a surveyor. (54)
I love this and would definitely like to implement this more in my own life. I know I’m less anxious when things are organized, but I do love spontaneity and would like to be more spontaneous. To allow myself to go running in the rain and talking to friends until midnight.
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A kind of awareness–something so different from human intelligence that intelligence thinks it’s nothing. (54)
How often do we dismiss something or someone because it’s different from ourselves? There’s a lot to be learned by listening, especially to those different. I’m also just in love with the wording of this. Read it again, slowly. Isn’t it beautiful?
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They can’t believe a kid worked for months on an original idea, for no reason at all except the pleasure of looking until you see something. (56)
An ode to all creators, young and old. It’s hard work but keep going! The world needs art in all its forms, so please, please, please don't stop creating. And please support other creators as well!
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That’s when Adam realizes: Humankind is deeply ill. The species won’t last long. It was an aberrant experiment. Soon the world will be returned to the healthy intelligences, the collective ones. (56)
This book mentioned multiple times the idea that trees are intelligent and communicate through chemical secretions. This is arguing humans are not like this: that our communication is broken and will eventually break us until only more intelligent beings–I.E. trees–remain. Let’s prove that wrong. Please.
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They say the opposite of what they mean to test if you can see through them. Which they want. Then resent when you do. (57)
This is so poignant. It hits deep because of its raw, horrible truth. People are good a manipulation. At playing mind games that do more damage than anything else. I hope no one reading felt personally called out reading that. If so, that’s something to think about.
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Things with clean, concise, right answers are antidotes to human existence. (60)
I don’t need to explain that life is difficult. And sometimes it feels like nothing is going right. That one thing after another is conspiring against your happiness and success. So, when something falls perfectly into place, it’s a bonafide miracle. Or: an antidote to human existence.
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“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.” (71)
This quote is from a love letter between two characters. To me, this description is so lovely and unique, it warmed my heart on the first read. I even penciled in a small heart in my book’s margins.
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…when you spend all your hours with horses, your soul expands a bit until the ways of men reveal themselves to be no more than a costume party you’d be well-advised not to take at face value. (84)
Once again, Richard Powers cuts to the people’s frivolousness with ease, wit, and poignancy. Masterful.
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A great truth comes over him; Trees fall with spectacular crashes. But planting is silent and growth is invisible. (89)
I’ve recently realized I’m not a super patient person. At least about certain things. This blog, for instance, or my workout efforts. These are all things that require time and slow growth, but I’m leaping for the big explosion at the end. That’s not how it works, slowly. And I’m trying to learn how to see it as beautiful as I see Richard Power’s writing.
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They understand each other, with no words spoken. (97)
The idea of understanding is at the top for me when I think of love. This type of connection definitely takes work to achieve, but I would love to have it one day.
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The whole wide universe waits to be animated. (97)
And artists, writers, and creators rise to meet the challenge.
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“And everything you hope, fear, and love became possible.” (124)
This reminds me of the quote from War and Peace that goes: For a few seconds they looked into each other’s eyes, and the distant and impossible suddenly became near, possible, and inevitable.
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…trees and humans, at war over the land and water and atmosphere. And she can hear, louder than the quaking leaves, which side will lose by winning. (133)
Can we step back and appreciate this line’s power? ‘Lose by winning’. Shoot. Even I feel called out. Going to be walking to the store rather than driving tomorrow.
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Life was whispering instructions to her, and she failed to write them down. (159)
This reminds me of the first quote in this list: The tree is saying things, in words before words. Naturally, we can’t hear trees speaking to us with physical words. But maybe the relaxation we get when in nature is their way of communicating.
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No strangeness stranger than the strangeness of living things. (178)
I love poetic alliteration and repetition so this sentence appeals to my nerdy soul. Plus, it’s also hilarious.
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If only people, like some invertebrates, would just turn raging purple when they felt attraction. It would make the entire species so much less neurotic. (256)
Would it, though? Would it really? As someone who borders on social anxiety, I personally don’t think this would go well. But OK Richard Powers. This is your novel. Imagine all you want.
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They disappear into the rhythm of no rhythm at all. (267)
This reminds me of the Italian phrase, Dolce far Niente, which means “the sweetness of doing nothing.”
I went hammocking up in the canyon near my house the other day and just lying there for a few minutes, looking up at the trees and the sun was soul-cleansing.
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“I never knew how strong a drug other people are.”
“The strongest. Or at least the most widely abused.” (267)
I remember one time, I talked with a friend after she left a toxic relationship.
“How could someone do that to someone they claimed to love?” she asked me after opening up about some of the abuse he put her through.
I thought for a moment and concluded, “People abuse love. That’s why we have to romanticize it.”
I’m still waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip that into one of my creative projects someday. But for now, I think it connects pretty well with this quote. Human beings inherently, psychologically need connection. And yet, it can be taken too far. To the point it’s detrimental. It’s something to be conscious of in all relationships whether in a romantic capacity or just with friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances.
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Consciousness itself is a flavor of madness, set against the thoughts of the green world. (322)
The Chesire Cat said it best: We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.
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There are consolations that the strongest human love is powerless to give. (330)
This is a hard one because it is true. As I’ve said, life is difficult. And sometimes, there’s nothing we can do about it. It hurts not knowing what to do for others–I know I’ve both been in this situation and put others in it when I’m unsure how to ask for help. This, like so many lines in this novel, rings true.
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They’ve changed in some subtle way no personality test could quantify. (335)
Recently, I’ve gotten to learn about myself and see how I’ve changed. I’m still me and yet, I’m not the same as I was. It’s a strange paradox I find fascinating and beautiful about people.
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To be human is to confuse a satisfying story with a meaningful one, and to mistake life for something huge with two legs. (383)
I believe a novel can be well written, but not well executed. As in, the writer’s poetry is exceptional but their plot and characters are lacking. Relating this idea to people, I instantly think of social media and how we only see small snippets of people’s life and suddenly think it’s all sunshine and roses for them. They could have the poetry, sure. But do they have the substance?
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…those recent yesterdays when tomorrow seemed the answer to everything a human might ever want. (385)
I’ve had a few conversations with my older brother recently about all the things we’re doing right now. He said to me, “If I had told myself two years ago I’d be where I am now, I would have thought I had it all. But I don’t.” As heartbreaking as it was to hear him say that knowing how hard he’s worked these years, it’s so true that no one thing is going to fulfill us. It’s a continual journey and battle
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That’s life; the dead keep the living alive. (423)
This hit right in the gut. I’m fortunate to have not experienced many losses in life, but I have had one in particular that continues to affect me over ten years later. In some moments, it knocks me down, while in others, it inspires me. But this goes on just personal deaths in our lives. History teaches us a thousand cautionary tales. We don’t always listen, but shouldn't we?
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Life has a way of talking to the future. It’s called memory. (482)
This goes along with what I was just saying about history. Looking to the past teaches us how to move forward. Everything we do now will be a lesson, whether negative or positive, in the future.
Have you read The Overstory? What are your favorite lines? What's your favorite line from this list? I'd love to hear from you! You can connect with me through thornfield.lane@gmail.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter: @thornfield_lane.
