← Aṅguttara NikāyaAN4.109Numbered Discourses 4.109SuttaCentral (Bhikkhu Sujato translation)Select any verse to keep it — saved passages go to your Dhamma Deck, the same one the app uses.Numbered Discourses 4.10911. CloudsTrees“Mendicants, there are these four kinds of tree.What four?One is a softwood surrounded by softwoods,one is a softwood surrounded by hardwoods,one is a hardwood surrounded by softwoods, andone is a hardwood surrounded by hardwoods.These are the four kinds of tree.In the same way, these four people similar to trees are found in the world.What four?One is a softwood surrounded by softwoods,one is a softwood surrounded by hardwoods,one is a hardwood surrounded by softwoods, andone is a hardwood surrounded by hardwoods.And how is a person a softwood surrounded by softwoods?It’s when a person is unethical, of bad character,and their followers are the same.That’s how a person is a softwood surrounded by softwoods.That person is like a softwood tree that’s surrounded by softwoods, I say.And how is a person a softwood surrounded by hardwoods?It’s when a person is unethical, of bad character,but their followers are ethical, of good character. …And how is a person a hardwood surrounded by softwoods?It’s when a person is ethical, of good character,but their followers are unethical, of bad character. …And how is a person a hardwood surrounded by hardwoods?It’s when a person is ethical, of good character,and their followers are the same.These four people similar to trees are found in the world.”