Beauty Quote by Wendell Berry
““Good human work honors God's work. Good work uses no thing without respect, both for what it is in itself and for its origin. It uses neither tool nor material that it does not respect and that it does not love. It honors nature as a great mystery and power, as an indispensable teacher, and as the inescapable judge of all work of human hands. It does not dissociate life and work, or pleasure and work, or love and work, or usefulness and beauty. To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God. But such blasphemy is not possible when the entire Creation is understood as holy and when the works of God are understood as embodying and thus revealing His spirit. (pg. 312, Christianity and the Survival of Creation)””
About This Quote
Source Book: Christianity and the Survival of Creation, 2002
Work should honor the divine source, respecting tools, materials, and nature, integrating pleasure, love, and beauty into creation.
In simple terms: Respect work, nature, and beauty in all tasks.
Create with reverence and joy.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- design
- manufacturing
- art
- gardening
- software development
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we balance practicality with reverence?
- What compromises are acceptable in modern work?
Achieving perfect reverence is idealistic; constraints may limit ideal outcomes.