The Mighty Oak

These oak trees are in my in-laws front yard and some are over one hundred feet tall. When I look at them I always think of these quotes and of the acorns that stood their ground.



"Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow."



"The greatest Oaks have been little Acorns."



Great things may come from small beginnings.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

The word acorn doesn't come from 'oak' and 'corn', as is popularly supposed, but from the Old English 'aecern', meaning berry or fruit. The tree genus Acer comes from the same root.

Before oaks were mighty they were first either great, tall, sturdy or even just big. Examples of early variants of 'mighty oaks from little acorns grow' are found in Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.