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 capacity 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. (pg. 20, "A Native Hill") .Wendell Berry
About This Quote
The quote above by Aldo Leopold is a beautiful reminder that we must revere the world. We cannot know all there is to know about the world and we can never completely understand it. Instead, we must fully respect to world for it is truly a living being that has been created by a creator. If we take that into account, then we will have no choice but to respect it and work with it as a collaborative partner rather than making our own rules to try to force our wishes on the world.
Often the concept of working with nature can be misinterpreted as being simply against it. In actuality, working with nature means recognizing that fact that we have limitations and must be careful not to exceed those limits. But at the same time, we do not have to be afraid of the unknown because we do not have to know everything about this mysterious creation to be able to work cooperatively with it.
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