--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Commercial conquest is far more thorough…" description: "\"Commercial conquest is far more thorough and final than military defeat.\" — Wendell Berry" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/073/wendell-berry-236_conquest_commercial-conquest-is-far-more-thorough_2798737.jpg" --- # Commercial conquest is far more thorough and final than… ![“Commercial conquest is far more thorough and final than military defeat.” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/073/wendell-berry-236_conquest_commercial-conquest-is-far-more-thorough_2798737.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/073/wendell-berry-236_conquest_commercial-conquest-is-far-more-thorough_2798737.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/073/wendell-berry-236_conquest_commercial-conquest-is-far-more-thorough_2798737.jpg) > “Commercial conquest is far more thorough and final than military defeat.” [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. Economic conquest reshapes societies more permanently than wars, which are temporary disruptions. **In simple terms:** Economic takeover outlasts war. Key Takeaway Consider long‑term economic impacts. Themes economics environment society power history Mood reflective concerned Type environmental political When to use this quote - military interventions - corporate expansion - policy planning - community resilience Key Concepts sustainable development resource control social change colonialism Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can protect communities from corporate dominance? - How do we balance economic growth with cultural preservation? A Different Perspective Economic power can be resisted through local autonomy, but may be limited. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commercial Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commercial-conquest-3434052/) [Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquest/) [Conquest Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquest-far-3434054/) [Consumerism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Far Thorough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-thorough-3434053/) [Finals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finals/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [Overconsumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overconsumption/) [Thorough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thorough/) [Thorough Final](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thorough-final-3434055/) ## Related quotes > [The economy is still substantially that of the fur trade, still based on the same general kinds of commercial items: technology, weapons, ornaments, novelties,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-economy-is-still-substantially-that-of-the-fur-trade-still-based/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To me, an economy that sees the life of a community or a place as expendable, and reckons its value only in terms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-me-an-economy-that-sees-the-life-of-a-community-or-a-place-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The religion and the environmentalism of the highly industrialized countries are at bottom a sham, because they make it their business to fight against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-religion-and-the-environmentalism-of-the-highly-industrialized/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [When humans act like animals, they become the most dangerous of animals to themselves and other humans, and this is because of another critical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/when-humans-act-like-animals-they-become-the-most-dangerous-of/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [There are not enough rich and powerful people to consume the whole world; for that, the rich and powerful need the help of countless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/there-are-not-enough-rich-and-powerful-people-to-consume-the-whole/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [In this state of total consumerism-which is to say a state of helpless dependence on things and services and ideas and motives that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/in-this-state-of-total-consumerism-which-is-to-say-a-state-of/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [However destructive may be the policies of the government and the methods and products of the corporations, the root of the problem is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/however-destructive-may-be-the-policies-of-the-government-and-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [We must waste less. We must do more for ourselves and for each other. It is either that or continue merely to think and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-must-waste-less-we-must-do-more-for-ourselves-and-for-each-other/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I think of the old slavery, and of the way The Economy has now improved upon it. The new slavery has improved upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-think-of-the-old-slavery-and-of-the-way-the-economy-has-now/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/love-the-quick-profit-the-annual-raise-vacation-with-pay-want-more-of/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To the extent that we consume, in our present circumstances, we are guilty. To the extent that we guilty consumers are conservationists, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-the-extent-that-we-consume-in-our-present-circumstances-we-are/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The answers to the human problems of ecology are to be found in economy. And the answers to the problems of economy are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-answers-to-the-human-problems-of-ecology-are-to-be-found-in/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [How do we submit? By not being radical enough. Or by not being thorough enough, which is the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/how-do-we-submit-by-not-being-radical-enough-or-by-not-being-thorough/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Over-consumption is a cancer eating away at our spiritual vitals. It distances us from the great masses of broken bleeding humanity. It converts us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-foster/over-consumption-is-a-cancer-eating-away-at-our-spiritual-vitals-it/) [Richard J. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-foster/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) ## 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. 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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 Conquest quotes > [Here's the reality. The image of a white Jesus has been used to justify enslavement, conquest, colonialism, the genocide of indigenous peoples. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/here-s-the-reality-the-image-of-a-white-jesus-has-been-used-to/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. 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And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [If love is the quest, then marriage is the conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-love-is-the-quest-then-marriage-is-the-conquest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We must not forget that what I mean by the conquest of the world by spiritual thought is the sending out of the life-giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-must-not-forget-that-what-i-mean-by-the-conquest-of-the-world-by/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Any piece of knowledge which the pupil has himself acquired- any problem which he has himself solved, becomes, by virtue of the conquest, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/any-piece-of-knowledge-which-the-pupil-has-himself-acquired-any/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I have visited sweatshops, factories, and crowded slums. 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