--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Agriculture must mediate between nature…" description: "\"“Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties and obligations in both directions. To farm well requires an elaborate cour..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg" --- # Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human… ![“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…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg) > ““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.”” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human work should respect both nature and community, recognizing interdependence and extending empathy to all beings. **In simple terms:** Respect nature and community in work. Key Takeaway Cultivate empathy for all life. Themes environment community ethics agriculture interdependence Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical ethical environmental When to use this quote - farming practices - policy making - education curricula - community planning - research design Key Concepts sustainability ecology social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can we broaden our perspective beyond immediate interests? - What responsibilities do we have toward nonhuman life? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on narrow goals can ignore broader ecological and social impacts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agriculture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) [Agriculture Mediate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture-mediate-4414339/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Context](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/context/) [Farm Requires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farm-requires-4414340/) [Husbandry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husbandry/) [Mediate Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediate-nature-4414341/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Scientist Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist-farmer-4414342/) ## Related quotes > [And if we ask what are the cultural resources that can inform and sustain a proper creaturely and stewardly awareness of the lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/and-if-we-ask-what-are-the-cultural-resources-that-can-inform-and/) [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-2/) [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/) > [“A farmer, as one of his farmer correspondents once wrote to Liberty Hyde Bailey, is "a dispenser of the 'Mysteries of God.'" The husband,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-farmer-as-one-of-his-farmer-correspondents-once-wrote-to-liberty-2/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“A farmer, as one of his farmer correspondents once wrote to Liberty Hyde Bailey, is “a dispenser of the ‘Mysteries of God.’” The mothering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-farmer-as-one-of-his-farmer-correspondents-once-wrote-to-liberty/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“There are no bad plants or bad men. There is only bad husbandry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-are-no-bad-plants-or-bad-men-there-is-only-bad-husbandry/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Those who give their entire attention to animal husbandry cannot become human, and those who give their entire attention to horticulture cannot become human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayatollah-khomeini/those-who-give-their-entire-attention-to-animal-husbandry-cannot/) [Ayatollah Khomeini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayatollah-khomeini/) > [There's husbandry in heaven, Their candles are all out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/there-s-husbandry-in-heaven-their-candles-are-all-out/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-dax/it-s-not-our-place-to-judge-the-guilt-or-innocence-of-the-prisoners/) [Rachel Dax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-dax/) > [“Together with the mechanisation of plant cultivation, industrial animal husbandry is the basis for the entire modern socio-economic order.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/together-with-the-mechanisation-of-plant-cultivation-industrial/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“The theme of his life’s work was his effort to bridge this gap. The way to do it was simply to refuse to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-theme-of-his-life-s-work-was-his-effort-to-bridge-this-gap-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The United States is a very important country to us in the international context. But on other hand, Angola is also important to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joao-lourenco/the-united-states-is-a-very-important-country-to-us-in-the/) [Joao Lourenco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joao-lourenco/) > [ People always tend to give the benefit of the doubt to allow people to explain the context \[of their words\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keli-goff/people-always-tend-to-give-the-benefit-of-the-doubt-to-allow-people/) [Keli Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keli-goff/) > [“Christianity doesn't answer all my questions or make me comfortable and happy. What it does do is give me a context for living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryan-smith/christianity-doesn-t-answer-all-my-questions-or-make-me-comfortable/) [James Bryan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryan-smith/) > [Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/pakistan-now-is-like-a-horror-film-franchise-you-know-it-s-friday-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) ## 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/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Agriculture quotes > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [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/) > [As the first Member of Congress from western Washington to serve on the House Agriculture Committee in over 50 years, I am proud to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-larsen/as-the-first-member-of-congress-from-western-washington-to-serve-on/) [Rick Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-larsen/) > [Conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it's never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barber/conventional-agriculture-has-never-succeeded-in-feeding-the-world-and/) [Dan Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barber/) > [I would say my fraternity was nothing but a bunch of farm boys; we weren't really in the whole fraternity scene, but yeah, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/i-would-say-my-fraternity-was-nothing-but-a-bunch-of-farm-boys-we/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [I grew up in Italy, and our country is a country of great agriculture and food produce. It wasn't like I was urban and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/i-grew-up-in-italy-and-our-country-is-a-country-of-great-agriculture/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/farmers-get-out-your-sense-of-humor-congress-meets-to-relieve-you/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Because Iran understands Afghanistan far better than Americans do, making Iran a partner in a long-term effort to transform Afghan agriculture makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/because-iran-understands-afghanistan-far-better-than-americans-do/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Sara Scherr and Jeff McNeely have given us a thoughtful, sensible book about a topic of great importance to the world. There is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-serageldin/sara-scherr-and-jeff-mcneely-have-given-us-a-thoughtful-sensible-book/) [Ismail Serageldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-serageldin/) > [People want development, modern thinking. They want to encourage and support research in agriculture and other fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-pawar/people-want-development-modern-thinking-they-want-to-encourage-and/) [Sharad Pawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-pawar/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [When politicians talk of loan waiver, they are accepting that agriculture is not economically viable. They are giving a wrong signal that farming is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-swaminathan/when-politicians-talk-of-loan-waiver-they-are-accepting-that/) [M. S. Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-swaminathan/) > [Nitrogen-based fertilizers, which came into wide use after World War II, helped prompt the agricultural revolution that has allowed the Earth to feed its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/nitrogen-based-fertilizers-which-came-into-wide-use-after-world-war/) [Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/) > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [More than a mere alternative strategy, regenerative agriculture represents a fundamental shift in our culture’s relationship to nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/more-than-a-mere-alternative-strategy-regenerative-agriculture/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) [Browse all 889 Agriculture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“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.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Berry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature-and-the-human-community-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Agriculture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature-and-the-human-community-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8db/wendell-berry-236_agriculture_agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature_523725.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties and obligations in both…” — Wendell Berry", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Wendell Berry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Agriculture must mediate between nature and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature-and-the-human-community-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/agriculture-must-mediate-between-nature-and-the-human-community-with/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```