--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In order to survive, a plurality of true…" description: "\"In order to survive, a plurality of true communities would require not egalitarianism and tolerance but knowledge, an understanding of the necessity of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/wendell-berry-236_ability_in-order-to-survive-a-plurality-of-true_1103730.jpg" --- # In order to survive, a plurality of true communities would… ![“In order to survive, a plurality of true communities would require not egalitarianism and tolerance but knowledge, an understanding of the necessity of local differences, and respect. Respect, I think, always implies imagination - the ability to see one another, across our inevitable differences…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/wendell-berry-236_ability_in-order-to-survive-a-plurality-of-true_1103730.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/wendell-berry-236_ability_in-order-to-survive-a-plurality-of-true_1103730.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/755/wendell-berry-236_ability_in-order-to-survive-a-plurality-of-true_1103730.jpg) > “In order to survive, a plurality of true communities would require not egalitarianism and tolerance but knowledge, an understanding of the necessity of local differences, and respect. Respect, I think, always implies imagination - the ability to see one another, across our inevitable differences, as living souls.” [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. Understanding and respecting local differences requires knowledge and imagination, not just tolerance. **In simple terms:** Respect needs knowledge and imagination. Key Takeaway Cultivate local knowledge and empathy. Themes community diversity respect knowledge imagination Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - urban planning - education curricula - community mediation - policy making Key Concepts social ecology cultural relativism Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance local autonomy with collective needs? - What practices foster imagination across differences? A Different Perspective Local differences may conflict with broader unity goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Ability to see](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability-to-see/) [Communities Require](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communities-require-2537873/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Differences Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences-respect-2537870/) [Egalitarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egalitarianism/) [Egalitarianism Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egalitarianism-tolerance-2537871/) [Equality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equality/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Inevitable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inevitable/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Locals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/locals/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Require Egalitarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/require-egalitarianism-2537869/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) [True Communities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-communities-2904927/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [“In order to survive, a plurality of true communities would require not egalitarianism and tolerance but knowledge, an understanding of the necessity of local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/in-order-to-survive-a-plurality-of-true-communities-would-require-not-2/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I grew up with a sense of tolerance. I don't know that there was any talk about gender differences. It was respect for people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-c-driskell/i-grew-up-with-a-sense-of-tolerance-i-don-t-know-that-there-was-any/) [David C. Driskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-c-driskell/) > [We will not agree on every issue. But let us respect those differences and respect one another. Let us recognize that we do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lynch/we-will-not-agree-on-every-issue-but-let-us-respect-those-differences/) [John Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lynch/) > [“I was astonished, bewildered. This was America, a country where, whatever its faults, people could speak, write, assemble, demonstrate without fear. 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Universalistic egalitarianism, from which sprang the ideals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurgen-habermas/for-the-normative-self-understanding-of-modernity-christianity-has/) [Jürgen Habermas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurgen-habermas/) > [“Originated by the green leading-edge in academia, this aperspectival madness of “no truth” leapt out of the universities, and morphed into an enormous variety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/originated-by-the-green-leading-edge-in-academia-this-aperspectival/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“When you can’t block people’s access to food and shelter, and you can’t stop them from leaving, how can you control them? 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This shows that equality, by itself, is not enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/there-is-equality-where-all-are-slaves-as-well-as-where-all-are-free/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Disregarding the value of religion and believing in egalitarianism are two misconceptions that cause America much trouble today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charley-reese/disregarding-the-value-of-religion-and-believing-in-egalitarianism/) [Charley Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charley-reese/) > [“My good friends, things cannot go on well in England, nor ever will until everything shall be in common, when there shall be neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ball/my-good-friends-things-cannot-go-on-well-in-england-nor-ever-will/) [John Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ball/) > [“Pilgrim of the heart, oneness in our vein - love is the revolution, Human is the name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-of-the-heart-oneness-in-our-vein-love-is-the-revolution-human/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## 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. 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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 Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. 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Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 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