--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...this country would always be populated…" description: "\"“...this country would always be populated with presences and absences, presences of absences, the living and the dead. The world as it is would always..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/wendell-berry-236_death_this-country-would-always-be-populated-w_3019355.jpg" --- # ...this country would always be populated with presences… ![“...this country would always be populated with presences and absences, presences of absences, the living and the dead. The world as it is would always be a reminder of the world that was, and of the world that is to come.” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/wendell-berry-236_death_this-country-would-always-be-populated-w_3019355.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/wendell-berry-236_death_this-country-would-always-be-populated-w_3019355.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00e/wendell-berry-236_death_this-country-would-always-be-populated-w_3019355.jpg) > ““...this country would always be populated with presences and absences, presences of absences, the living and the dead. The world as it is would always be a reminder of the world that was, and of the world that is to come.”” [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. Highlights perpetual presence of past, present, and future, reminding us of continuity. **In simple terms:** The world always contains past and future. Key Takeaway Recognize and honor both history and future possibilities. Themes memory time continuity Mood reflective thoughtful nostalgic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - heritage preservation - urban planning - intergenerational dialogue - cultural education Key Concepts philosophical existential Questions to Reflect On - What does the past teach us about today? - How can we shape a better future? A Different Perspective May romanticize the past, ignoring present challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Past and future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-future/) [Past and present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-present/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) ## Related quotes > [“Her presences or absences din't matter alot i always painted picture with her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonjay-singh/her-presences-or-absences-din-t-matter-alot-i-always-painted-picture/) Sonjay Singh > [The pandemic has been such an awful time for so many people around the world, but it has also been a reminder for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananya-birla/the-pandemic-has-been-such-an-awful-time-for-so-many-people-around/) [Ananya Birla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananya-birla/) > [“What happens under the rule of specialization is that, though society becomes more and more intricate, it has less and less structure. It becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/what-happens-under-the-rule-of-specialization-is-that-though-society/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Listen to presences inside poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/listen-to-presences-inside-poems/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Do you not feel’, said the Doctor in his very soft but still crisp-edged voice, ‘that invisible presences have more reality than visible ones?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/do-you-not-feel-said-the-doctor-in-his-very-soft-but-still-crisp/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-seen-i-can-pay-attention-to-2/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I think it was rather an advantage not having any living poets in England or America in whom one took any particular interest. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-think-it-was-rather-an-advantage-not-having-any-living-poets-in/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“It was the absences that had made her think, not the presences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/it-was-the-absences-that-had-made-her-think-not-the-presences/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Poetry is not truth, it is the resurrection of presences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/poetry-is-not-truth-it-is-the-resurrection-of-presences/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-seen-i-can-pay-attention-to/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I think there are presences out there that we can't see or directly communicate with that have benevolent influence on us. Whether they're angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/i-think-there-are-presences-out-there-that-we-can-t-see-or-directly/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [That's what all painting is about, it”s space and light occupied by human presences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kossoff/that-s-what-all-painting-is-about-it-s-space-and-light-occupied-by/) Leon Kossoff > [People have presences, both online and in real life. You can choose to show everything, meaning all sides of you, or you can choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-systrom/people-have-presences-both-online-and-in-real-life-you-can-choose-to/) [Kevin Systrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-systrom/) > [“there are moments when we understand that the earth and the sky and the presences that may lie behind them are always with us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/there-are-moments-when-we-understand-that-the-earth-and-the-sky-and/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [“What explanation does Ibn Arabi give for these phenomena ? A first explanation invokes the hierarchical planes of being, the Hadarat, or "Presences." There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-corbin/what-explanation-does-ibn-arabi-give-for-these-phenomena-a-first/) [Henry Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-corbin/) ## 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. 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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. 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 Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. 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He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...this country would always be populated with presences and absences, presences of absences, the living and the dead. 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