--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is impossible to see how good work…" description: "\"“It is impossible to see how good work might be accomplished by people who think that our life in this world either signifies nothing or has only a neg..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/wendell-berry-236_art_it-is-impossible-to-see-how-good-work-mi_1774762.jpg" --- # It is impossible to see how good work might be… ![“It is impossible to see how good work might be accomplished by people who think that our life in this world either signifies nothing or has only a negative significance. If, on the other hand, we believe that we are living souls, God's dust and God's breath, acting our parts among other creatures…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/wendell-berry-236_art_it-is-impossible-to-see-how-good-work-mi_1774762.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/wendell-berry-236_art_it-is-impossible-to-see-how-good-work-mi_1774762.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/wendell-berry-236_art_it-is-impossible-to-see-how-good-work-mi_1774762.jpg) > ““It is impossible to see how good work might be accomplished by people who think that our life in this world either signifies nothing or has only a negative significance. If, on the other hand, we believe that we are living souls, God's dust and God's breath, acting our parts among other creatures all made of the same dust and breath as ourselves; and if we understand that we are free, within the obvious limits of moral human life, to do evil or good to ourselves and to the other creatures - then all our acts have a supreme significance. If it is true that we are living souls and morally free, then all of us are artists. All of us are makers, within mortal terms and limits, of our lives, of one another's lives, of things we need and use... If we think of ourselves as living souls, immortal creatures, living in the midst of a Creation that is mostly mysterious, and if we see that everything we make or do cannot help but have an everlasting significance for ourselves, for others, and for the world, then we see why some religious teachers have understood work as a form of prayer... Work connects us both to Creation and to eternity. (pg. 316, Christianity and the Survival of Creation)”” [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. Seeing work as a sacred act gives it lasting meaning when we recognize ourselves as free, soulful participants in a mysterious creation. **In simple terms:** Work is sacred when we view ourselves as free souls in creation. Key Takeaway Treat work as prayer; create with purpose. Themes purpose spirituality work creation freedom Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal projects - community service - environmental stewardship - creative professions Key Concepts existentialism theology meaning artistry Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing work as prayer change your daily tasks? - What limits does you see in viewing life as a creation? A Different Perspective Belief in insignificance can undermine motivation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Creation Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation-eternity-260410/) [Everlasting Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everlasting-significance-1810482/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-souls-453251/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls/) [Souls Morally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls-morally-1810481/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Supreme Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supreme-significance-1810483/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [“The living souls have the breath of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-living-souls-have-the-breath-of-life/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Perhaps living souls had greater phantom powers than the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-joyce/perhaps-living-souls-had-greater-phantom-powers-than-the-dead/) [Graham Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-joyce/) > [“Respect, I think, always implies imagination - the ability to see one another, across our inevitable differences, as living souls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/respect-i-think-always-implies-imagination-the-ability-to-see-one/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“By the way, what presumptuous egocentricity to believe that earth-shaking events, on the scale at which a god (or a tectonic plate) might operate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/by-the-way-what-presumptuous-egocentricity-to-believe-that-earth/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“It is in the nature of all living things to die. 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I reckon not many. 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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. 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