A Handmade Life Quotes

“Apprentices Needed, Not Disciples
For many, the knowledge of a Jesus, a Lao-tzu, a Buddha, or a Gandhi is complete and unassailable. But we do them and their vision a disservice when we follow them rather than using what they have taught to build upon as we strive toward our goal of a better society.”
― William S. Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“It is often assumed that the chief reason for making things—furniture, clothing, toys, a garden—is to save money. There are other factors that may be of equal or greater importance: making what we need for life is a way of expressing creativity and of gaining greater confidence. Emotional security comes from providing the necessities of life in personal, meaningful ways, by our own hands or those of friends and loved ones. Another value in studying how things are made is to increase our appreciation for them as we better understand what makes them work. The knowledge that comes from shaping the things around us helps us build relationships with the world that are more intimate.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“It is always easier to take the words of a Jesus, a Gandhi, a Marx, or a Confucius as constituting Holy Writ. This involves less reading, less study, less thought, less conflict, and less independent searching, but it also means less growth toward maturity.”
― William S. Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“ Those who guide us, who inspire us, having gone our way before, are now partners with us in building a better world. Any success we have is theirs as well as ours. To copy or imitate them should be only the beginning-the apprentice stage of life. It is fine to think, "what will a Shaker do? What would Scott Nearing have said? What would Gandhi have thought?" These are good exercises for the mind, a way of weighing ideas and contemplated actions, valuable so long as we do not follow anyone blindly.
Only by standing on their shoulders can we build a better world, but we should use the wise as advisers, not masters.”
― William S. Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“Good apprentices know that they are in the process of becoming masters and that as responsible artisans they must seek to improve upon the knowledge entrusted to them and go further.”
― William S. Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“When we merely follow another, we take a potentially creative mind out of service-our own. ”
― William S. Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“For too long the various fields of knowledge have been closed to the majority of people, because of knowledge barriers (such as entrance exams), financial barriers (tuition), class barriers (guilds, unions, and directors of admission), language barriers (each group adopting its own arcane terminology with the supposed purpose of facilitating communication among members but with the effects being a rebuff to the uninitiated). These obstacles are undemocratic in that they do not let an individual have free access to knowledge that society has collected — our common inheritance, the greatest store of wealth to which we are all heirs.
Such barriers have resulted in an elite group that understands and a mass of outsiders who are excluded from knowledge. For example, in earlier times the Bible was only available in Latin or Greek and accessible exclusively to priests and scholars. That exclusivity is kept alive today in the medical profession.
There are innumerable, hidden psychological and social pressures that keep people from being free to explore the constructive use of their hands and minds. Because of artificial limitations on who shall know, society fails to reap the knowledge, the productivity, and the peace and well-being that come from universal participation. In a very real sense, we are hoarding our wealth rather than investing it in the best blue chip stock on the market — human ability.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“Inherent in the word "violence" is violation, the invasion if someone's (or something's) aura, space, territory. We tend to think of violence as a physical attack, but this is only part of the meaning of violence. At the root of all violation there is the crime of disrespect. All wrong stems from this. When we act without regard for the spirit or nature of a thing, we violate it. To the extent that we become sensitive to that nature or spirit, violence will tend to disappear. I would like to become kinder and gentler to the spirit of all things. Our most important duty is to seek to know - to understand. Only with knowledge can we do right. Good intentions are necessary, but without knowledge they founder on ignorance.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“So many of our values are dependent on the perspective of the times, which is often little more than a mix of passing fashions.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“If we are going to have a better world, we need to insist that the finest people are selected for the care of the young. We must see that they get the status, recognition, and salary that will help draw people of the finest abilities into teaching.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“Students should be invited to learn and not compelled, as learning at its best stems from the request of the student and not the demand of an authority.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“Aesthetics are central to the curriculum, since beauty is a birthright and the lack of beauty is a sign of great danger.”
― William Coperthwaite, A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity