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claired01's review against another edition
4.0
Two wonderful essays on trying to reject our commercialized capital world and embrace or become familiar with the land we live on.
jonscott9's review
4.0
This small tome of two essays is affectionately and patiently written. It is kind, pointed and prophetic. I'm going to offer just a couple extended quotes, from Wendell Berry in – goddammit – the year 1968. We will have no excuse as people what we've done and what we are doing to our planet. We can't say we weren't warned decades in advance.
"Nature has a patient ear. To her the slowest funeral march sounds like a jig. She is satisfied to have the notes drawn out to the lengths of days or weeks or months. Small variations are acceptable to her, modulations as leisurely as the opening of a flower." (pages 84-85)
"We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. And this has been based on the even flimsier assumption that we could know with any certainty what was good even for us. We have fulfilled the danger of this by making our personal pride and greed the standard of our behavior toward the world – to the incalculable disadvantage of the world and every living thing in it. And now, perhaps very close to too late, our great error has become clear. It is not only our own creativity – our own apacity for life – that is stifled by our arrogant assumption; the creation itself is stifled.
"We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to *know* the world and to learn what is good for it. We must learn to cooperate in its processes, and to yield to its limits. But even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that the creation is full of mystery; we will never entirely understand it. We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For I do not doubt that it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it." (pages 88-90)
"Nature has a patient ear. To her the slowest funeral march sounds like a jig. She is satisfied to have the notes drawn out to the lengths of days or weeks or months. Small variations are acceptable to her, modulations as leisurely as the opening of a flower." (pages 84-85)
"We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. And this has been based on the even flimsier assumption that we could know with any certainty what was good even for us. We have fulfilled the danger of this by making our personal pride and greed the standard of our behavior toward the world – to the incalculable disadvantage of the world and every living thing in it. And now, perhaps very close to too late, our great error has become clear. It is not only our own creativity – our own apacity for life – that is stifled by our arrogant assumption; the creation itself is stifled.
"We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to *know* the world and to learn what is good for it. We must learn to cooperate in its processes, and to yield to its limits. But even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that the creation is full of mystery; we will never entirely understand it. We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For I do not doubt that it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it." (pages 88-90)
dogtrax's review
5.0
What a lovely book of two powerful essays by Wendell Berry about noticing the world. Though written and originally published in the late 1960s and early 1970s, his words hold up over time -- not just about wonder and quiet, but also about our place in the world, and how destructive we can be.
joey_schafer's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
lingfish7's review
4.0
For a book titled "Think Little," this book really caused me to think. I am indebted to Wendell Berry's articulate, poetic essays for challenging my preconceived notion that industry, technology, and man's "progress" is inherently good or acceptable in light of nature and other quieter things. Berry is a nature junkie who has incredible insight into the evils of men plowing through the earth without knowing a thing about how to take care of it.
His commentary on how we should be better stewards of the earth enlightened me to realize that it's not necessarily the "big thinking" politicians and policies that can cause change, but also, and maybe especially so, the individual actions of people committed to doing their part. That's the essence of his first essay in this short book: Wendell Berry encourages us to do less thinking and more action; think little. It was written in 1970 and is still incredibly relevant today. He compares the Vietnam War to the Civil Rights Movement to the Environmental Movement and claims that although the mentality that brought on all of the injustices behind these are the same, the Environmental Movement hits closer to home because it affects every single living being in this world. The solution he says, is as simple as thinking smaller and doing a little at a time.
Berry's second essay in this short book was written in 1968 and really hones in on how destructive Americans have been towards this land and the people who originally inhabited it. He even implies that though we called the Native Americans "uneducated" it was really the white settlers who were so wholly uneducated about this land that they set about destroying it the second they tried to lay claim to it. You can tell how much Wendell hates violence, technology, and industry because he sees how irreverent it is towards nature and this beautiful earth.
I highly recommend spending a Saturday afternoon (it took me maybe 2 hours) reading through this short book of essays. It will cause you to think more about the whole of creation instead of just man's "accomplishments" and pursuits.
Postscript Note: I originally rated this as 5 stars but had to move it down to 4 stars because my husband read it and informed me that a lot of Wendell's arguments, though well meaning, have been disproven with data. So although very well-written, he was misinformed or ill-informed. In terms of actual environmental change, policy actually does a great deal more than individual effort because a large portion of the world's consumption comes from corporations, not individual households. So to effect large change, we are forced to target government policies and put regulations on corporations, knowing that the greatest impact is with companies instead of individuals. I still think this book is a worthwhile read to force you to consider your own impact on the environment and how men haven't been considerate or thoughtful stewards of the earth.
His commentary on how we should be better stewards of the earth enlightened me to realize that it's not necessarily the "big thinking" politicians and policies that can cause change, but also, and maybe especially so, the individual actions of people committed to doing their part. That's the essence of his first essay in this short book: Wendell Berry encourages us to do less thinking and more action; think little. It was written in 1970 and is still incredibly relevant today. He compares the Vietnam War to the Civil Rights Movement to the Environmental Movement and claims that although the mentality that brought on all of the injustices behind these are the same, the Environmental Movement hits closer to home because it affects every single living being in this world. The solution he says, is as simple as thinking smaller and doing a little at a time.
Berry's second essay in this short book was written in 1968 and really hones in on how destructive Americans have been towards this land and the people who originally inhabited it. He even implies that though we called the Native Americans "uneducated" it was really the white settlers who were so wholly uneducated about this land that they set about destroying it the second they tried to lay claim to it. You can tell how much Wendell hates violence, technology, and industry because he sees how irreverent it is towards nature and this beautiful earth.
I highly recommend spending a Saturday afternoon (it took me maybe 2 hours) reading through this short book of essays. It will cause you to think more about the whole of creation instead of just man's "accomplishments" and pursuits.
Postscript Note: I originally rated this as 5 stars but had to move it down to 4 stars because my husband read it and informed me that a lot of Wendell's arguments, though well meaning, have been disproven with data. So although very well-written, he was misinformed or ill-informed. In terms of actual environmental change, policy actually does a great deal more than individual effort because a large portion of the world's consumption comes from corporations, not individual households. So to effect large change, we are forced to target government policies and put regulations on corporations, knowing that the greatest impact is with companies instead of individuals. I still think this book is a worthwhile read to force you to consider your own impact on the environment and how men haven't been considerate or thoughtful stewards of the earth.