--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once plants and animals were raised…" description: "\"Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm - which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/wendell-berry-236_animal_once-plants-and-animals-were-raised-toge_1980429.jpg" --- # Once plants and animals were raised together on the same… ![“Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm - which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and to pollute the water supply, nor depended on such quantities of commercial fertilizer. The genius of American farm experts is very well demonstrated…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/wendell-berry-236_animal_once-plants-and-animals-were-raised-toge_1980429.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/wendell-berry-236_animal_once-plants-and-animals-were-raised-toge_1980429.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/wendell-berry-236_animal_once-plants-and-animals-were-raised-toge_1980429.jpg) > “Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm - which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and to pollute the water supply, nor depended on such quantities of commercial fertilizer. The genius of American farm experts is very well demonstrated here: they can take a solution and divide it neatly into two problems.” [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. Mixed farming naturally balances waste and fertilizer, but experts split the solution into separate problems, missing the holistic view. **In simple terms:** Integrated farms manage waste and nutrients together; experts over‑complicate. Key Takeaway Adopt holistic, integrated agricultural practices. Themes environment agriculture holism Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical environmental When to use this quote - farm management - policy design - education - community planning Key Concepts sustainability ecosystem services soil health Questions to Reflect On - What are the trade‑offs of separating agricultural issues? - How can we promote holistic thinking in modern farming? A Different Perspective Simplifying complex systems may overlook important nuances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Divides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divides/) [Experts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experts/) [Farms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farms/) [Fertilizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fertilizer/) [Fertilizer Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fertilizer-genius-3378697/) [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Manure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manure/) [Manure Wasted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manure-wasted-3378698/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Plants and animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plants-and-animals/) [Plants Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plants-animals-255024/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Quantity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantity/) [Raised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/raised/) [Solutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solutions/) [Stewardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stewardship/) [Surplus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surplus/) [Surpluses Manure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surpluses-manure-3378696/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [ \[When her daughter suggested the President refer in his conversation with foreign dignitaries about lawn care to 'fertilizer' instead of to 'manure':\] But remember,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bess-truman/when-her-daughter-suggested-the-president-refer-in-his-conversation/) [Bess Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bess-truman/) > [Nature does have manure and she does have roots as well as blossoms, and you can't hate the manure and blame the roots for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/nature-does-have-manure-and-she-does-have-roots-as-well-as-blossoms/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The longer I live the greater is my respect for manure in all its forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/the-longer-i-live-the-greater-is-my-respect-for-manure-in-all-its/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [Money is like manure, you don't have to spread it around, you can just sell it to Potash Corp as fertilizer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/money-is-like-manure-you-don-t-have-to-spread-it-around-you-can-just/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [I have used all the manure that has been thrown on me as fertilizer to make me stronger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eartha-kitt/i-have-used-all-the-manure-that-has-been-thrown-on-me-as-fertilizer/) [Eartha Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eartha-kitt/) > [“the world is better without them. only the plants and the animals are true comrades. I drink to them and with them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/the-world-is-better-without-them-only-the-plants-and-the-animals-are/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [The best opinion now is, that there are multitudinous forms which are not sufficiently differentiated to be distinctively either plant or animal, while, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-gray/the-best-opinion-now-is-that-there-are-multitudinous-forms-which-are/) [Asa Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-gray/) > [“The trees are a thousand times taller than me, and hundreds of years older, and the rocks and leaves and plants and animals never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stephenson/the-trees-are-a-thousand-times-taller-than-me-and-hundreds-of-years/) [Ben Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stephenson/) > [“There is no doubt that plants and animals have minds, emotions, feelings, and survival instincts. This means that we must also consider a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/there-is-no-doubt-that-plants-and-animals-have-minds-emotions/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [I think coexisting with another life form is a very rich experience. It's why people keep plants and animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-think-coexisting-with-another-life-form-is-a-very-rich-experience/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [“After all, the sanitation and the agriculture of today are still in the rudimentary stage. The science of our time has attacked but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/after-all-the-sanitation-and-the-agriculture-of-today-are-still-in/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [“Even plants and animals were mechanised. Around the time that Homo sapiens was elevated to divine status by humanist religions, farm animals stopped being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/even-plants-and-animals-were-mechanised-around-the-time-that-homo/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Plants and animals repeat routine, but men who are not restrained will go into the future like explorers into a new country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-wilder-lane/plants-and-animals-repeat-routine-but-men-who-are-not-restrained-will/) [Rose Wilder Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-wilder-lane/) > [What a difference that extra 120 ppm has made for plants, and for animals and humans that depend on them. The more carbon dioxide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-driessen/what-a-difference-that-extra-120-ppm-has-made-for-plants-and-for/) [Paul Driessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-driessen/) > [“But if humans can make new varieties of plants and animals, must not nature do so also? This related process is called natural selection.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/but-if-humans-can-make-new-varieties-of-plants-and-animals-must-not/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## 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. 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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 Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm - which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and to pollute the water supply, nor depended on such quantities of commercial fertilizer. 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