That proves you are unusual,' returned the Scarecrow; 'and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.

On its surface, the Scarecrow flatters “unusual” people, but the deeper thrust is a critique of how societies distribute attention and esteem. The metaphor of common people as “leaves of a tree” suggests vast numbers, interchangeability, and a natural cycle in which individual lives are easily lost in the mass—noticed only as part of a larger whole. Baum’s phrasing can be read as both elitist and ironic: the Scarecrow’s certainty invites readers to question whether worth should depend on distinctiveness, or whether it is merely public “consideration” that is unequally granted. The line thus probes fame, individuality, and the invisibility of the many.