Creation Quote by Wendell Berry
““We depend upon other creatures and survive by their deaths. To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration. In such desecration we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want.””
About This Quote
Human survival depends on consuming other beings; doing so reverently is a sacred act, while careless consumption leads to moral isolation and spiritual emptiness.
In simple terms: Respectful consumption is sacred; careless use is destructive.
Key Takeaway
Approach consumption with reverence and mindfulness.
Themes
ethics
environment
spirituality
interdependence
responsibility
Mood
reflective
somber
Type
philosophical
ethical
When to use this quote
- food production
- resource management
- wildlife stewardship
- industrial agriculture
- personal habits
Key Concepts
sacramental view
eco‑ethics
moral philosophy
Questions to Reflect On
- How does reverent consumption change our relationship with nature?
- What practices embody mindful use of resources?
A Different Perspective
Modern industrial practices often ignore reverence.
![“Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this [step by step, from humans to apes to monkeys to lemurs] - leading us insensibly from the crown and summit of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, as it seems, to the…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f0b/thomas-huxley-1183_animal_perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us_3051.jpg)
