--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A thousand acres that can feed a thousand…" description: "\"A thousand acres that can feed a thousand souls is better than ten thousand acres of no more effect.\" — William Petty" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png" --- # A thousand acres that can feed a thousand souls is better… ![“A thousand acres that can feed a thousand souls is better than ten thousand acres of no more effect.” quote by William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png) > “A thousand acres that can feed a thousand souls is better than ten thousand acres of no more effect.” [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Having enough resources to sustain people is more valuable than excess land that yields little benefit. **In simple terms:** Sufficient resources beat wasteful abundance. Key Takeaway Prioritize effective resource use. Themes economics resource management efficiency Mood analytical pragmatic Type economic practical When to use this quote - community planning - agricultural policy - urban development - humanitarian aid Key Concepts sustainability distribution productivity Questions to Reflect On - How can you ensure resources serve people? - What measures prevent wasteful excess? A Different Perspective Abundance without utility can be wasteful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acres/) [Acres Effect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acres-effect-4077933/) [Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) [Better Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-thousand-574663/) [Feed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feed/) [More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/more/) [Ten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand Acres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-acres-2638842/) [Thousand Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-souls-442360/) ## Related quotes > [I think that every town should have a park, or rather a primitive forest, of five hundred or a thousand acres, either in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-think-that-every-town-should-have-a-park-or-rather-a-primitive/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A few men own from ten thousand to two hundred thousand acres each. The poor Laborer can find no resting place, save on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-kearney/a-few-men-own-from-ten-thousand-to-two-hundred-thousand-acres-each/) [Denis Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-kearney/) > [If a thousand shares of stocks or bonds make nothing, you pay nothing. But on a thousand acres of land you pay enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/if-a-thousand-shares-of-stocks-or-bonds-make-nothing-you-pay-nothing/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Have you reckon’d a thousand acres much? have you reckon’d the earth much? Have you practis’d so long to learn to read? Have you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/have-you-reckon-d-a-thousand-acres-much-have-you-reckon-d-the-earth/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“Mother’s estate—our estate—a thousand acres centered in a million more. Lawns the size of small prairies with grass so perfect it beckoned a body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/mother-s-estate-our-estate-a-thousand-acres-centered-in-a-million/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [Your welcome means more to me, Ivy Alisha Tamwood, than a thousand souls. Watching Rachel work is a wonder of one catastrophe after another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/your-welcome-means-more-to-me-ivy-alisha-tamwood-than-a-thousand/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [“Finding someone who reads is like dating a thousand souls”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/finding-someone-who-reads-is-like-dating-a-thousand-souls/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There were, all told, some ten thousand souls in the graveyard, but most of them slept deep, or took no interest in the night-to-night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-were-all-told-some-ten-thousand-souls-in-the-graveyard-but-most/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A thousand souls could not tear your heart from me...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-smith/a-thousand-souls-could-not-tear-your-heart-from-me/) [Gloria Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-smith/) > [“Ankh-Morpork! Brawling city of a hundred thousand souls! And, as the Patrician privately observed, ten times that number of actual people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ankh-morpork-brawling-city-of-a-hundred-thousand-souls-and-as-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Maintain a spirit of peace and you will save a thousand souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seraphim-of-sarov/maintain-a-spirit-of-peace-and-you-will-save-a-thousand-souls/) [Seraphim of Sarov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seraphim-of-sarov/) > [I do not need a thousand souls, I only need one, which is my master's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian/i-do-not-need-a-thousand-souls-i-only-need-one-which-is-my-master-s/) [SebastiAn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian/) > [“Her voice carried the voices of a hundred thousand souls in it; a whole history of resistance and rage moved with her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-jos-older/her-voice-carried-the-voices-of-a-hundred-thousand-souls-in-it-a/) [Daniel José Older](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-jos-older/) > [It were good to know how much hay an acre of every sort will bear; how many cattle the same weight of each sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/it-were-good-to-know-how-much-hay-an-acre-of-every-sort-will-bear-how/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [“One bright star is better than a thousand dull moons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/one-bright-star-is-better-than-a-thousand-dull-moons/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) ## More by William Petty > [Causes of Civil War are also, that the Wealth of the Nation is in too few mens hands, and that no certain means are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/causes-of-civil-war-are-also-that-the-wealth-of-the-nation-is-in-too/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [It were good to know how much hay an acre of every sort will bear; how many cattle the same weight of each sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/it-were-good-to-know-how-much-hay-an-acre-of-every-sort-will-bear-how/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Here we are to remember that in consequence of our opinion that labor is the Father and active principle of wealth, as lands are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/here-we-are-to-remember-that-in-consequence-of-our-opinion-that-labor/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Money is the best rule of commerce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/money-is-the-best-rule-of-commerce/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Raising of money may indeed change the species, but with so much loss as the foreign pieces were raised unto, above their intrinsick value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/raising-of-money-may-indeed-change-the-species-but-with-so-much-loss/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Wherefore the race being not to the swift, etc. but time and chance happening to all men, I leave the Judgement of the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/wherefore-the-race-being-not-to-the-swift-etc-but-time-and-chance/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [The method I take to do this is not yet very usual; for instead of using only comparative and superlative Words, and intellectual Arguments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/the-method-i-take-to-do-this-is-not-yet-very-usual-for-instead-of/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [I hope no man takes what I said about the living and dieing of men for mathematical demonstration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/i-hope-no-man-takes-what-i-said-about-the-living-and-dieing-of-men/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [No man pays double or twice for the same thing, forasmuch as nothing can be spent but once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/no-man-pays-double-or-twice-for-the-same-thing-forasmuch-as-nothing/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [An house is of a double nature, viz., one, wherein it is a way and means of expence, the other as it is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/an-house-is-of-a-double-nature-viz-one-wherein-it-is-a-way-and-means/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [“Milk was used in various forms during the summer months; in winter beer or water was used. Bread, cakes, potatoes, and sea food were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/milk-was-used-in-various-forms-during-the-summer-months-in-winter/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [The trade of banks is the buying and selling of interest and exchange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/the-trade-of-banks-is-the-buying-and-selling-of-interest-and-exchange/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Without the knowledge of the true number of the people, as a principle, the whole scope and use of keeping bills of birth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/without-the-knowledge-of-the-true-number-of-the-people-as-a-principle/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [That some are poorer than others, ever was and ever will be: And that many are naturally querulous and envious, is an Evil as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/that-some-are-poorer-than-others-ever-was-and-ever-will-be-and-that/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Every seaman is not only a navigator, but a merchant and also a soldier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/every-seaman-is-not-only-a-navigator-but-a-merchant-and-also-a-soldier/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) [Explore all 19 William Petty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) ## More Acres quotes > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [It were good to know how much hay an acre of every sort will bear; how many cattle the same weight of each sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/it-were-good-to-know-how-much-hay-an-acre-of-every-sort-will-bear-how/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [In the 24 hours since this time yesterday, over 200,000 acres of rainforest have been destroyed in our world. Fully 13 million tons of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-hartmann/in-the-24-hours-since-this-time-yesterday-over-200-000-acres-of/) [Thom Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-hartmann/) > [About five years ago, the courses we run in the Field Trials were 52 percent timber. The hawks live in trees, and the quail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-carlisle/about-five-years-ago-the-courses-we-run-in-the-field-trials-were-52/) [Rick Carlisle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-carlisle/) > [ \[Footnote:\] Pliny the Elder described a Whale called "Balaena or Whirlpool, which is so long and broad as to take up more in length… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/footnote-pliny-the-elder-described-a-whale-called-balaena-or/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) > [One time we did have 300 acres in watermelons. That was fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delta-burke/one-time-we-did-have-300-acres-in-watermelons-that-was-fun/) [Delta Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delta-burke/) > [Our problem with limited resources is not primarily overpopulation; it is greed. Our problem with pollution is not the invention of fluorocarbons or mass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winkie-pratney/our-problem-with-limited-resources-is-not-primarily-overpopulation-it/) [Winkie Pratney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winkie-pratney/) > [Only by himself, with one acre and a house, will a dunce be a dunce. Once he manages to gain power, he'll turn into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/only-by-himself-with-one-acre-and-a-house-will-a-dunce-be-a-dunce/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [And we never got the mule, let alone the forty acres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evers/and-we-never-got-the-mule-let-alone-the-forty-acres/) [Charles Evers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evers/) > [I grew up in a town outside of Waco, Texas, and we had 30 acres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-plemons/i-grew-up-in-a-town-outside-of-waco-texas-and-we-had-30-acres/) [Jesse Plemons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-plemons/) > [The poet is at the edge of our consciousness of the world, finding beyond the suspected nothingness which we imagine limits our perception another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/the-poet-is-at-the-edge-of-our-consciousness-of-the-world-finding/) [Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/) > [We live on a 500-acre ranch, beautiful ranch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanya-tucker/we-live-on-a-500-acre-ranch-beautiful-ranch/) [Tanya Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanya-tucker/) > [There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-not-an-acre-of-ground-on-the-globe-that-is-in-possession-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The city of London, within the walls, occupies a space of only 370 acres, and is but the hundred and fortieth part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mayhew/the-city-of-london-within-the-walls-occupies-a-space-of-only-370/) [Henry Mayhew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mayhew/) > [The ploughman knows how many acres he shall upturn from dawn to sunset: but the thinker knows not what a day may bring forth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/the-ploughman-knows-how-many-acres-he-shall-upturn-from-dawn-to/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) [Browse all 218 Acres quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acres/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A thousand acres that can feed a thousand souls is better than ten thousand acres of no more effect.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Petty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousand-souls-is-better-than-ten/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acres" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousand-souls-is-better-than-ten/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/william-petty-28895_acres_a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousan_471883.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A thousand acres that can feed a thousand souls is better than ten thousand acres of no more effect.” — William Petty", "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": "William Petty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A thousand acres that can feed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousand-souls-is-better-than-ten/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/a-thousand-acres-that-can-feed-a-thousand-souls-is-better-than-ten/#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 } } ] } ```