The most insistent and formidable concern of agriculture, wherever it is taken seriously, is the distinct individuality of every farm, every field on every farm, every farm family, and every creature on every farm. Wendell Berry More Quotes by Wendell Berry More Quotes From Wendell Berry For want of a Pilate of their own, some Christians would accept a Constantine or whomever might be the current incarnation of Caesar. Wendell Berry christianwantmight We are alive within mystery, by miracle... We have more than we can know. We know more than we can say. Wendell Berry mysterymiraclealive When the self is ones exclusive subject and limit, reference and measure, one has no choice but to make a world of words. Wendell Berry choicesselfworld Eaters must understand that eating takes place inescapably in the world, that it is inescapably an agricultural act, and that how we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used. Wendell Berry usedeatingworld A proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing what things are more important than other things; it means putting first things first. Wendell Berry educationordermean The constructions of language, which is to say the constructions of thought, are formed within experience, not the other way around. Wendell Berry constructionlanguageway The shoddy work of despair, the pointless work of pride, equally betray Creation. They are wastes of life. Wendell Berry despairwastepride It is to be broken. It is to be torn open. It is not to be reached and come to rest in ever. I turn against you, I break from you, I turn to you. We hurt, and are hurt, and have each other for healing. It is healing. It is never whole. Wendell Berry brokenhurthealing The chance you had is the life you've got. You can make complaints about what people, including you, make of their lives after they have got them, and about what people make of other people's lives, ...but you mustn't wish for another life. You mustn't want to be somebody else. Wendell Berry wishwantpeople Willing to die you give up your will; keep still, until moved by what moves all else, you move. Wendell Berry willinggiving-upmoving Novelty is a new kind of loneliness. Wendell Berry noveltylonelinessfear An agrarian mind begins with the love of fields and ramifies in good farming, good cooking & good eating Wendell Berry cookingfieldsmind I thought, He must forebear to reveal His power and glory by presenting Himself as Himself, and must be present only in the ordinary miracle of the existence of His creatures. Those who wish to see Him must see Him in the poor, the hungry, the hurt, the wordless creatures, the groaning and travailing beautiful world. Wendell Berry miraclehurtbeautiful I have this love for Mattie. It was formed in me as he himself was formed. It has his shape, you might say. He fits it. He fits into it as he fits into his clothes. He will always fit into it. When he gets out of the car and I meet him and hug him, there he is, him himself, something of my very own forever, and my love for him goes all around him just as it did when he was a baby and a little boy and a young man grown. Wendell Berry babymenboys We still (sometimes) remember that we cannot be free if our minds and voices are controlled by someone else. But we have neglected to understand that we cannot be free if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. The condition of the passive consumer of food is not a democratic condition. One reason to eat responsibly is to live free. (pg. 323, The Pleasures of Eating) Wendell Berry voicemindremember Thinking is the most overrated human activity. Wendell Berry overratedhumansthinking Why should conservationists have a positive interest in... farming? There are lots of reasons, but the plainest is: Conservationists eat. Wendell Berry farmingshouldreason You may say that I am just another outdated old man complaining about progress and the changes of time. But, you see, I have well considered that possibility myself, and am prepared o submit to correction by anybody who cares about a community, who can show me how the world is improved by that community's dying. Wendell Berry progresscommunitymen And I knew that the Spirit that had gone forth to shape the world and make it live was still alive in it. I just had no doubt. I could see that I lived in the created world, and it was still being created. I would be part of it forever. There was no escape. The Spirit that made it was in it, shaping it and reshaping it, sometimes lying at rest, sometimes standing up and shaking itself, like a muddy horse, and letting the pieces fly. Wendell Berry horseforeverlying A teacher's major contribution may pop out anonymously in the life of some ex-student's grandchild. A teacher, finally, has nothing to go on but faith, a student nothing to offer in return but testimony. Wendell Berry grandchildrenfaithteacher
