The good life of any river may depend on the perception of its music; and the preservation of some music to perceive.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.

Land is not merely soil, it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals.

Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left.

There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.

The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: 'What good is it?

There can be no doubt that a society rooted in the soil is more stable than one rooted in pavements.

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.

The first law of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts

To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.

Success in this world depends on knowing exactly how little effort each job is worth...distribution of energy...

Only the poet or the saint can water an asphalt pavement in the confident anticipation that lilies will reward his labour.

I paint from the top down. First the sky then the mountains then the hills then the houses then the cattle and then the people.

One of the greatest necessities in America is to discover creative solitude.

This music is forever for me. It's the stage thing, that rush moment that you live for. It never lasts, but that's what you live for.

People behave badly and people are in prison and people are on death row, and there are no excuses for everybody's behavior, but most people are coming from abuse.

Cookery is naturally the most ancient of the arts, as of all arts it is the most important.

Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish - don't overdo it.

The only disease you have is your inability to see you have the power to heal yourself.

The more I focused on my need to get better the worse I actually got - the more neurotic and self-conscious and self-absorbed I became.