--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That we should have an agriculture based…" description: "\"That we should have an agriculture based as much on petroleum as the soil-that we need petroleum exactly as much as we need food and must have it befor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg" --- # That we should have an agriculture based as much on… ![“That we should have an agriculture based as much on petroleum as the soil-that we need petroleum exactly as much as we need food and must have it before we can eat-may seem absurd. It is absurd. It is nevertheless true.” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg) > “That we should have an agriculture based as much on petroleum as the soil-that we need petroleum exactly as much as we need food and must have it before we can eat-may seem absurd. It is absurd. It is nevertheless true.” [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. Reliance on petroleum is as essential as food for modern agriculture, exposing unsustainable dependencies. **In simple terms:** Petroleum is crucial for modern farming, but it's unsustainable. Key Takeaway Reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Themes agriculture environment sustainability energy food security Mood concerned hopeful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - farm management - policy planning - urban gardening - renewable energy projects Key Concepts resource dependency ecological impact technological alternatives Questions to Reflect On - How can agriculture thrive without petroleum? - What alternatives are viable now? A Different Perspective Transition may be costly and complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Agriculture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) [Petroleum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/petroleum/) ## Related quotes > [Though it sounds absurd, it is true to say I felt younger at sixty than I felt at twenty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/though-it-sounds-absurd-it-is-true-to-say-i-felt-younger-at-sixty/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [Under the rule of the "free market" ideology, we have gone through two decades of an energy crisis without an effective energy policy. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/under-the-rule-of-the-free-market-ideology-we-have-gone-through-two/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [American agriculture is badly in need of diversity. Another threat to the food system of course is the likelihood that petroleum is not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/american-agriculture-is-badly-in-need-of-diversity-another-threat-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [There are lots of bad things that can happen to a food economy that's both extensive and centralized. There's no substitute for petroleum. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/there-are-lots-of-bad-things-that-can-happen-to-a-food-economy-that-s/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [And having thoughtlessly polluted our streams and rivers, we have seen in recent years a rapidly growing market for bottled drinking water. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/and-having-thoughtlessly-polluted-our-streams-and-rivers-we-have-seen/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God alone, but our task nevertheless is to seek to know what is true. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-belongs-to-god-alone-but-our-3/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The two largest oil-producing countries in Latin America, Mexico and Venezuela, sold petroleum to Nicaragua at concessional rates for several years beginning in 1980.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/the-two-largest-oil-producing-countries-in-latin-america-mexico-and/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [“Dad's oil dehydrator was a contained electrostatic field, one electrode down the center, the other the container's inner wall. Principal problem was finding a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/dad-s-oil-dehydrator-was-a-contained-electrostatic-field-one/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [The modern spectacle of vanished forests and eroded lands, wasted petroleum and ruthless mining, national debts recklessly increased until they are repudiated, and continual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/the-modern-spectacle-of-vanished-forests-and-eroded-lands-wasted/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [Saudi Arabian oil production is at or very near its peak sustainable volume (if it did not, in fact peak almost 25 years ago),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-simmons/saudi-arabian-oil-production-is-at-or-very-near-its-peak-sustainable/) Matthew Simmons > [The suggestion that petroleum might have arisen from some transformation of squashed fish or biological detritus is surely the silliest notion to have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/the-suggestion-that-petroleum-might-have-arisen-from-some/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [I'm not guaranteeing what we come up with will be better for the planet. There is ethanol, for instance, which actually nets out with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-m-not-guaranteeing-what-we-come-up-with-will-be-better-for-the/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“Control over the production and distribution of oil is the decisive factor in defining who rules whom in the Middle East.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/control-over-the-production-and-distribution-of-oil-is-the-decisive/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [You hear entertainers all the time, saying, 'If I couldn't get paid for this, I'd do it for free.' When's the last time you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/you-hear-entertainers-all-the-time-saying-if-i-couldn-t-get-paid-for/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## 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 Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That we should have an agriculture based as much on petroleum as the soil-that we need petroleum exactly as much as we need food and must have it before we can eat-may seem absurd. It is absurd. It is nevertheless true.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Berry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based-as-much-on-petroleum-as-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based-as-much-on-petroleum-as-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a0/wendell-berry-236_absurd_that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based_1516330.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That we should have an agriculture based as much on petroleum as the soil-that we need petroleum exactly as…” — 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": "That we should have an agriculture...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based-as-much-on-petroleum-as-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-should-have-an-agriculture-based-as-much-on-petroleum-as-the/#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 } } ] } ```