The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry

by Wendell Berry

It is best read and understood outdoors, and the farther outdoors the better. Or that has been my experience of it. Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible, outdoors seem merely natural.

The formula given in Genesis 2:7 is not man = body + soul; the formula there is soul = dust + breath.

The significance—and ultimately the quality—of the work we do is determined by our understanding of the story in which we are taking part.

To use gifts less than well is to dishonor them and their Giver. There is no material or subject in Creation that, in using, we are excused from using well; there is no work in which we are excused from being able and responsible artists.