Wendell Berry

T H E W O R K S O F
EVERYMAN
FORHIMS
E L F I S A F
EEDINGF
RENZY
W E N D E L L B E R R Y
1

THE WORKS OF WENDELL BERRY
EVERY MAN FOR
HIMSELF IS
A FEEDING
FRENZY
THE HILL PASTURE, AN OPEN PLACE AMONG THE TREES,
TILTS INTO THE VALLEY. THE CLOVERS AND TALL GRASSES
ARE IN BLOOM. ALONG THE FOOT OFT HE HILL
DARK FLOODWATER MOVES DOWN THE RIVER.
THE SUN SETS. AHEAD OF NIGHTFALL THE BIRDS SING.
I HAVE CLIMBED UP TO WATER THE HORSES
AND NOW SIT AND REST, HIGH ON THE HILLSIDE,
LETTING THE DAY GATHER AND PASS. BELOW ME
CATTLE GRAZE OUT ACROSS THE WIDE FIELDS OF THE BOTTOMLANDS,
SLOW AND PREOCCUPIED AS STARS. IN THIS WORLD
MEN ARE MAKING PLANS, WEARING THEMSELVES OUT,
SPENDING THEIR LIVES, IN ORDER TO KILL EACH OTHER.
“In This World” Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
3

“INDIVIDUALISM
IS GOING AROUND
THESE DAYS IN
UNIFORM,
HANDING OUT THE
PARTY LINE ON
INDIVIDUALISM.”
WENDELLBERRY

Born in 1934, Wendell Berry is the first of four children of
Virginia Erdman Berry and John Marshall Berry, a lawyer
and tobacco farmer. Both the Erdmans and the Berrys
have farmed in Kentucky’s Henry County for at least five
generations.
Wendell earned a B.A. and M.A. in English at the
University of Kentucky, and in 1958, pursuing his love of
writing, he attended Stanford University’s creative
writing program as a Wallace Stegner Fellow, studying
under Stegner in a seminar that included Edward Abbey,
Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, Ernest Gaines,
Tillie Olsen, and Ken Kesey.
Through whatever he is writing, Berry’s message is
constant: humans must learn to live in harmony with the
natural rhythms of the earth or perish. In his opinion, we
must acknowledge the impact of agriculture to our society.
Berry believes that small-scale farming is essential
to healthy local economies, and that strong local economies
are essential to the survival of the species and the
well-being of the planet.

RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM
IN AMERICA HAS RUN
MOSTLY TO ABSURDITY, TRAGIC
OR COMIC. BUT IT ALSO HAS DONE
US A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF GOOD.
There was a streak of it in Thoreau, who went alone to
jail in protest against the Mexican War. And that streak
has continued in his successors who have suffered
penalties for civil disobedience because of their perception
that law and the government were not always or
necessarily right. This is individualism of a kind rugged
enough, and it has been authenticated typically by its
identification with a communal good.
an essay from “The Way of Ignorance”
The tragic version of rugged individualism is in the
presumptive “right” of individuals to do as they please,
as if there were no God, no legitimate government, no
community, no neighbours, no posterity. This is most
frequently understood as the right to do whatever one
pleases with one’s property. One’s property, according
to this formulation, is one’s own absolutely.
7

Rugged individualism of this kind has cost us dearly in
lost topsoil, in destroyed forests, in the increasing toxicity
of the world, and in annihilated species.
WHEN PROPERTY RIGHTS BECOME ABSOLUTE THEY ARE
INVARIABLY DESTRUCTIVE, FOR THEN THEY ARE USED TO JUS-
TIFY NOT ONLY THE ABUSE OF THINGS OF PERMANENT VALUE
FOR THE TEMPORARY BENEFIT OF LEGAL OWNERS, BUT ALSO
THE APPROPRIATION AND ABUSE OF THINGS TO WHICH THE
WOULD-BE OWNERS HAVE NO RIGHTS AT ALL BUT WHICH CAN
BELONG ONLY TO THE PUBLIC OR TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY
OF LIVING CREATURES: THE ATMOSPHERE, THE WATER CYCLE,
WILDERNESS, ECOSYSTEMS, THE POSSIBILITY OF SURVIVAL.
This is made worse when great corporations are granted
the status of “persons,” who then can also become rugged
individuals, insisting on their right to do whatever
they please with their property. Because of the overwhelming
wealth and influence of theses “persons,” the
elected representatives and defenders of “the people of
the United States” become instead the representatives
and defenders of the corporations.
It has become evermore clear that this sort of individualism
has never proposed or implied any protection of
the rights of all individuals, but instead has promoted
a ferocious scramble in which more and more of the
rights of “the people” have been gathered into
the ownership of fewer and fewer of the greediest
and most powerful “persons.”
8

I have described so far what most of us would identify
as the rugged individualism of the political right. Now
let us have a look at the left. The rugged individualism
of the left believes that an individual’s body is property
belonging to that individual absolutely: The owners of
bodies may, by right, use them as they please, as if there
was no God, no legitimate government, no community,
no neighbours, and no posterity.
This supposed right is manifested in the democratizing
of “sexual liberation”; in the popular assumption that
marriage has been “privatized” and so made subordinate
to the wishes of individuals; in the proposition that
the individual is “autonomous”; in the legitimation of
abortion as birth control --in the denial, that is to say,
that the community, the family, one’s spouse, or even
one’s own soul might exercise a legitimate proprietary
interest in the use one makes of one’s body. And this
too is tragic, for it sets us “free” from responsibility
and thus from the possibility of meaning. It makes
unintelligible the self-sacrifice that sent Thoreau to jail.
9

THE GROWER OF TREES, THE GARDE
FARMING/
WHOSE
WHOSE
HANDS
HANDS
REACH
REACH
IN
IN
SPROUT/
SPROUT/
TO
TO
HIM
HIM
THE
THE
SOIL
SOIL
IS
IS A
DIV
DIV
INTO
INTO
DEATH/
DEATH
YEARLY, AND COMES B
“The Man Born from Farming” Selected Poems of Wen
HE HAS SEEN THE LIGHT LIE DOWN/
AND RISE AGAIN IN THE CORN/ HIS
ALONG THE ROW ENDS LIKE A MOLE
WHAT MIRACULOUS SEED HAS H
UNENDING SENTENCE OF HIS LOVE
MOUTH/ LIKE A VINE CLINGING IN T
WATER/ DESCENDING IN THE DARK
10

NER, THE MAN BORN TO
TO
TO
THE
THE
GROUND
GROUND
AND
AND
INE
INE
DRUG.
DRUG.
HE
HE
ENTERS
ENTERS
ACK REJOICING.
dell Berry
IN THE DUNG HEAP,
THOUGHT PASSES
.
E SWALLOWED/ THAT THE
FLOWS OUT OF HIS
HE SUNLIGHT, AND LIKE
?
11

THE COMEDY BEGINS WHEN THESE TWO RUGGED OR
“AUTONOMOUS” INDIVIDUALISMS CONFRONT EACH OTHER.
CONSERVATIVE INDIVIDUALISM
strongly supports “family values” and abominates lust. But it does not dissociate
itself from the profits accruing from the exercise of lust (and, in fact, of
the other six deadly sins), which it encourages in its own advertisements. The
“conservatives” of our day understand pride, lust, envy, anger, covetousness,
gluttony, and sloth as virtues when they lead to profit or to political power.
Only as unprofitable or unauthorized personal indulgences do they rank as
sins, imperiling salvation of the soul, family values, and national security.
LIBERAL INDIVIDUALISM
on the contrary, understands sin as a private matter. It strongly supports protecting
“the environment,” which is that part of the world which surrounds,
at a safe distance, the privately-owned body. “The environment” does not
include the economic landscapes of agriculture and forestry or their human
communities, and it does not include the privately-owned bodies of other
12
people --all of which appear to have been bequeathed in fee simple to the
corporate individualists.

“EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF”
IS A DOCTRINE FOR A FEEDING
FRENZY OR FOR A PANIC IN
A BURNING NIGHTCLUB,
APPROPRIATE FOR SHARKS
Conservative rugged individualists and liberal rugged individualists believe
alike that they should be “free” to get as much as they can of whatever they
want. Their major doctrinal difference is that they want (some of the time)
different sorts of things.
“Every man for himself” is a doctrine for a feeding frenzy or for a panic in a
burning nightclub, appropriate for sharks or hogs or perhaps a cascade of
lemmings. A society wishing to endure must speak the language of care-taking,
faith-keeping, kindness, neighbourliness, and peace. That language is
another precious resource that cannot be “privatized.”
OR HOGS OR PERHAPS A
CASCADE OF LEMMINGS.
13

“THE GREAT ENEMY OF FREEDOM IS
THE ALIGNMENT OF POLITICAL POWER
WITH WEALTH. THIS ALIGNMENT DE-
STROYS THE COMMONWEALTH - THAT
IS, THE NATURAL WEALTH OF LOCAL-
ITIES AND THE LOCAL ECONOMIES OF
HOUSEHOLD, NEIGHBORHOOD, AND
COMMUNITY - AND SO DESTROYS DE-
MOCRACY, OF WHICH THE COMMON-
WEALTH IS THE FOUNDATION AND
PRACTICAL MEANS.”
- WENDELL BERRY
WHEN DID
14

AN EXCERPT FROM ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?
a chapter of “Fidelity: Five Stories”
The spring work had started, and I needed a long night’s
rest, or that was my opinion, and I was about to go to
bed, but then the telephone rang. It was Elton. He had
been getting ready for bed, too, I think, and it had
occurred to him then that he was worried.
“ANDY
YOU SEE THE ROWANBERRY’S?”
I knew what he had on his mind. The river was in flood.
The backwater was over the bottoms, and Art and
Mart would not be able to get out except by boat
or onfoot.
“Not since the river came up.”
“Well, neither have I. And their phone’s out.
Mary, when did Mart call up here?”
15

I heard Mary telling him, “Monday night,” and then,
“It was Monday night,” Elton said to me.
“I’ve tried to call every day since, and I can’t get
anybody. That’s four days.”
“WELL, SURELY THEY’RE ALL RIGHT.”
“WELL, THAT’S WHAT MARY AND I HAVE BEEN
SAYING. SURELY THEY ARE. THEY’VE BEEN TAKING
CARE OF THEMSELVES A LONG TIME. BUT, THEN,
YOU NEVER KNOW.”
“THE THING IS, WE DON’T KNOW.”
16

LET MY MARRIAGE BE BROUGHT TO THE GROUND/ LET MY LOVE FOR THIS WOMAN ENRICH THE EARTH/
WHAT IS ITS HAPPINESS BUT PREPARING ITS PLACE?/ WHAT IS ITS MONUMENT BUT A RICH FIELD
“Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer X” Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
We knew what we were doing, and both of us were a
little embarrassed about it. The Rowanberry Place had
carried that name since the first deeds were recorded in
the log cabin that was the first courthouse at Hargrave.
Rowanberrys had been taking care of themselves there
for the better part of two hundred years. We knew that
Arthur and Martin Rowanberry required as little worrying
about as anybody alive. But now, in venturing to worry
about them, we had put them, so to speak, under the
sign of mortality.
They were, after all, the last of the Rowanberrys, and
they were getting old. We were uneasy in being divided
from them by the risen water and out of touch. It caused
us to think of things that could happen.
17

IN THE GREAT CIRCLE, DANCING IN/
NOW/TOWARD YOUR PARTNERS, AN
AUDIBLE TO YOU/THAT ONLY CARRI
RY YOU AGAIN/WHEN YOU MEET TH
ING TOWARD YOU/WE WILL BE IN L
AWARENESS FOR THE TIME/WE WHO
MEMBER/WHOM YOU DO NOT REM
US ALL. WHEN YOU MEET, AND HO
LESS OF ALL/THE UNKNOWN WILL D
THE HORIZON OF LIGHT/OUR NAME
18
ON THESE HILLS LIKE LITTLE FIRES.

AND OUT OF TIME, YOU MOVE
SWERING/THE MUSIC SUDDENLY
ED YOU BEFORE/AND WILL CAR-
E DESTINED ONES/NOW DANC-
INE BEHIND YOU/OUT OF YOUR
M YOU KNOW, OTHERS WE RE-
EMBER, OTHERS/FORGOTTEN BY
“Our Childrens, Coming of Age” Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
LD LOVE/IN YOUR ARMS, REGARD-
ANCE AWAY FROM YOU/TOWARD
S WILL FLUTTER
19

OUR PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN UP THEIR INDEPENDENCE IN
RETURN FOR THE CHEAP SEDUCTIONS AND THE SHODDY
MERCHANDISE OF SO-CALLED “AFFLUENCE.”
WE HAVE DELEGATED ALL OUR VITAL FUNCTIONS AND RE-
SPONSIBILITIES TO SALESMEN AND AGENTS AND BUREAUS
AND EXPERTS OF ALL SORTS.
WE CANNOT FEED OR CLOTHE OURSELVES, ENTERTAIN
OURSELVES, OR COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER, OR BE
CHARITABLE OR NEIGHBORLY OR LOVING, OR EVEN RESPECT
OURSELVES, WITHOUT RECOURSE TO A MERCHANT OR A
CORPORATION OR A PUBLIC-SERVICE ORGANIZATION OR AN
AGENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT OR A STYLE-SETTER OR AN
EXPERT.
20

MOST OF US CANNOT THINK OF DISSENTING FROM THE
OPINIONS OF THE ACTIONS OF ONE ORGANIZATION WITHOUT
FIRST FORMING A NEW ORGANIZATION.
INDIVIDUALISM IS GOING AROUND THESE DAYS IN UNI-
FORM, HANDING OUT THE PARTY LINE ON INDIVIDUALISM.
DISSENTERS WANT TO PUBLISH THEIR PERSONAL OPINIONS
OVER A THOUSAND SIGNATURES.”
21

WE DANCE THE CIRCLES OF THE YEARS,
WITHIN THE CIRCLES OF OUR LIVES
THE CIRCLES OF THE SEASONS
WITHIN THE CIRCLES OF THE YEARS,
THE CYCLES OF THE MOON
WITHIN THE CIRCLES OF THE SEASONS,
THE CIRCLES OF OUR REASONS
WITHIN THE CYCLES OFT HE MOON.
AGAIN, AGAIN WE COME AND GO,
CHANGED, CHANGING. HANDS
JOIN, ENJOIN IN LOVE AND FEAR,
GRIEF AND JOY. THE CIRCLES TURN,
EACH GIVING INTO EACH, INTO ALL.
ONLY MUSIC KEEPS US HERE,
EACH BY ALL THE OTHERS HELD.
IN THE HOLD OF HANDS AND EYES
WE TURN IN PAIRS, THAT JOINING
JOINING EACH TO ALL AGAIN.
AND THEN WE TURN ASIDE, ALONE,
OUT OF THE SUNLIGHT GONE
INTO THE DARKER CIRCLES OF RETURN.
“Song 4” Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
23

24
SELECT
WORK
FICTION
Fidelity: Five Stories, 1992
Hannah Coulter, 2004
Jayber Crow, 2000
The Memory of Old Jack, 1974
Nathan Coulter, 1960
A Place on Earth, 1967
Remembering, 1988
That Distant Land: The Collected Stories, 2004
Watch with Me and Six Other Stories of the Yet-Remembered Ptolemy Proudfoot and
His Wife, Miss Minnie, Née Quinch, 1994
The Wild Birds: Six Stories of the Port William Membership, 1986
A World Lost, 1996
POETRY
The Broken Ground, 1964
Clearing, 1977
Collected Poems: 1951-1982, 1982
The Country of Marriage, 1973
Entries, 1994
Farming: A Hand Book, 1970
Given: New Poems, 2005
Openings, 1968
A Part, 1980
Sabbaths: Poems, 1987
Sayings and Doings, 1975
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1999
A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997, 1998
The Wheel, 1982

ED
S
ESSAYS
Another Turn of the Crank, 1996
The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry, 2002
Citizenship Papers, 2003
A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural & Agricultural, 1972
The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural, 1981
Harlan Hubbard: Life and Work, 1990
The Hidden Wound, 1970
Home Economics: Fourteen Essays, 1987
Life Is a Miracle, 2000
The Long-Legged House, 2004
The Way of Ignorance, 2006
Recollected Essays: 1965-1980, 1981
Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community, 1992
Standing by Words, 1983
The Unforeseen Wilderness: Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, 1971
The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, 1977
What Are People For?, 1990
--------------------------------------------
THIS BOOK WAS DESIGNED BY ANDREW PANDJI FOR TYPOGRAPHY II. TYPEFACES USED INCLUDE
DIN CONDENSED, FUTURA CONDENSED AND UNIVERS. ALL CONTENT SOURCED FROM WENDELL BERRY.
25