Joseph Brodsky - [1994] On Grief and Reason
"when a European conceives of confronting nature, he walks out of his cottage or a little inn, [...]. If he encounters a tree, it's a tree made familiar by history, to which it's been a witness. This or that king sat underneath it, laying down this or that law [...]. Whereas when an American walks out of his house and encounters a tree it is a meeting of equals. Man and tree face each other in their respective primal power, free of references: neither has a past and as to whose future is greater, it is a toss-up." (1036 lit&writers)