Despite the popular “Confucius” and “Chinese proverb” labels, no such line appears in the Analects or any documented Chinese source. Quote Investigator found the earliest strong match in The Cleveland Plain Dealer of 19 March 1967, where a city councilman already offered it anonymously. The creator remains unknown.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now” Anonymous (American saying documented by 1967); popularly but wrongly credited to Confucius. Source: Quote Investigator.
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Confucius. Use the credit shown above instead.
Can you use it?
? We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.
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In context
Evoking the world of Confucius — Chinese philosopher & teacher (Kong Fuzi). Theme: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
What the record shows
Popularly credited
Confucius / “ancient Chinese proverb”
Earliest strong match
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 19 March 1967
Wording then
“the best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago … the second best time … is now”
True origin
Anonymous; no Confucius or documented Chinese source
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
The number floats between versions — 10, 20, 30, even 80 years — a hallmark of a folk saying rather than a fixed quotation from an author.
Quote Investigator dates the earliest strong match to The Cleveland Plain Dealer of 19 March 1967, where city councilman George W. White used it and disclaimed credit — leaving the source anonymous.
The saying was not labeled a “Chinese” proverb until about 1985, and was attributed to Confucius only around 2002 — decades after it was already circulating in American papers.
No such passage appears in the Analects or other classical Confucian texts; the “variable number” (10/20/30 years) marks it as folk wisdom, not a fixed authorial line.
The exact wording has no identifiable author or first-publication anchor — it is an anonymous 20th-century saying whose earliest documented appearance is a 1967 US newspaper. With no source work to date, no copyright status can be responsibly asserted.
Fact-check
How it got pinned on Confucius
This is one of the internet’s most-shared “Confucius” lines, yet the attribution is late and unsupported.
✕
Attributed authorConfucius misattributed
No such line appears in the Analects or any documented Confucian text. Quote Investigator notes the Confucius credit surfaces only around 2002, via a reader’s email in a Utah newspaper — decades after the saying was already circulating.
✕
Attributed origin“Ancient Chinese proverb” unsupported
The “Chinese” label first appears around 1985, long after the phrase was in American print, and no Chinese-language source has been produced. QI found no substantive evidence for a Chinese origin.
✓The real story: an anonymous American saying documented by 1967, later dressed up as ancient Chinese wisdom and credited to Confucius.
Context
Why the label stuck
The line pairs an appealing structure — regret about the past, followed by a call to act now — with the aura of timeless wisdom. Attaching it to Confucius or an “ancient Chinese proverb” lends borrowed authority that a plainly anonymous saying lacks, which is exactly why such lines migrate onto famous names.
Quote Investigator shows the migration in the record itself: American newspapers carry it from 1967, the “Chinese” gloss arrives around 1985, and the Confucius credit only around 2002 — the attribution growing more specific and more ancient the further it travels from its actual, humble source.
The older the wording is claimed to be, the more recent its paper trail turns out to be.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
551–479 BC · Chinese philosopher & teacher (Kong Fuzi)
Confucius (Kong Fuzi) was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period whose teachings on ethics, family and governance are gathered in the Analects, compiled by his followers after his death. Because his name is shorthand for “ancient Eastern wisdom,” feel-good aphorisms are routinely pinned on him. This tree-planting line is one of them: it belongs to none of his works and surfaces only in 20th-century American print.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Earliest documented source
Garson O’Toole (Gregory F. Sullivan), “The Best Time To Plant a Tree Was 30 Years Ago, and the Second Best Time To Plant a Tree Is Now,” Quote Investigator, December 29, 2021, citing The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio), March 19, 1967.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-best-time-to-plant-a-tree-was-20-years-ago-the-second