---
title: "2 First things Quotes By Wendell Berry"
description: "2 First things quotes by Wendell Berry. Plus more from Wendell Berry and more First things sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e94/wendell-berry-236_first-things_the-complexity-of-our-present-trouble-su_920160.jpg"
---

> [“The complexity of our present trouble suggests as never before that we need to change our present concept of education. Education is not properly an industry, and its proper use is not to serve industries, either by job-training or by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-complexity-of-our-present-trouble-suggests-as-never-before-that/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e94/wendell-berry-236_first-things_the-complexity-of-our-present-trouble-su_920160.jpg)

> [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-proper-education-enables-young-people-to-put-their-lives-in-order/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/wendell-berry-236_education_a-proper-education-enables-young-people_1155079.jpg)

## More by Wendell Berry

> [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

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