Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Wendell Berry

Quote by Wendell Berry

“To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a husbandry also of the land, of the soil, of the domestic plants and animals - obviously because of the importance of these things to the household. And there have been times, one of which is now, when some people have tried to practice a proper human husbandry of the nondomestic creatures in recognition of the dependence of our households and domestic life upon the wild world. Husbandry is the name of all practices that sustain life by connecting us conservingly to our places and our world; it is the art of keeping tied all the strands in the living network that sustains us. And so it appears that most and perhaps all of industrial agriculture's manifest failures are the result of an attempt to make the land produce without husbandry.”

Quote by Wendell Berry

Work

Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food

This book delves into the intricacies of farming and the food industry, examining the processes from production to consumption. It covers topics like sustainable farming methods, the role of technology, and the economic and environmental implications of food production. The author provides insights into the challenges faced by farmers and the broader societal impact of food systems. more

Author

Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry, an American novelist born on August 5, 1934, is renowned for his profound descriptions of rural life and his critical views on modern industrial civilization. more

You May Also Like

“Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties and obligations in both directions. To farm well requires an elaborate courtesy toward all creatures, animate and inanimate. It is sympathy that most appropriately enlarges the context of human work. Contexts become wrong by being too small - too small, that is, to contain the scientist or the farmer or the farm family or the local ecosystem or the local community - and this is crucial.”

“It’s not our place to judge the guilt or innocence of the prisoners, Nurse Webster. The sooner you learn that the better. Any other approach just leads to conflicts of duty and undermines the smooth running of the institution. We are here to ensure that the prisoners are dealt with firmly and professionally. It’s up to their lawyers to handle matters pertaining to their sentences.”

“In Maie get a weede hooke, a crotch and a glove, And weed out such weedes as the corne doth not love. Slack never they weeding, for dearth nor for cheape, The corne shall reward it er ever ye reape. [Found in Helen Nearing, ‘Wise Words on the Good Life’, 1980.”

“In Maie get a weede hooke, a crotch and a glove, And weed out such weedes as the corne doth not love. Slack never thy weeding, for dearth nor for cheape, The corne shall reward it er ever ye reape. [Thomas Tusser, ‘Five hundred points of husbandry: directing what corn, grass, is proper to be sown: what trees to be planted: how land is to be improved: with with whatever is fit to be done for the benefit of the farmer in every month of the year’ (1557).]”