Do you see that apple tree? It is broken by the weight and abundance of its own fruit. True emblem of a genius. Rudin (1856)
Egoism is suicide. The egoist withers like a solitary barren tree; but pride, ambition, as the active effort after perfection, is the source of all that is great ... Yes! a man must prune away the stubborn egoism of his personality to give it the right of self-expression. Rudin (1856)