The increasing desolation of nature, the exhaustion of resources, the uneasiness and disintegration of the human spirit, all have been brought about by humanity's trying to accomplish something.
Interpretation
Human efforts to achieve progress have led to environmental degradation and a decline in human well-being.
Masanobu Fukuoka highlights the paradox that while humanity strives for progress and achievement, these pursuits have resulted in significant harm to nature and the human spirit. The quote suggests that our relentless quest for accomplishment has come at a high cost, leading to resource depletion and a disconnection from the natural world.
In practice
During a presentation on environmental conservation, one could use this quote to emphasize the negative impact of human progress on nature.
When it is understood that one loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them, the essence of natural farming will be realized. The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.
As we kill nature, we are killing ourselves, and God incarnate as the world as well.
The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.
Modern research divides nature into tiny pieces and conducts tests that conform neither with natural law nor with practical experience. The results are arranged for the convenience of research, not according to the needs of the farmer.
Gradually I came to realize that the process of saving the desert of the human heart and revegetating the actual desert is actually the same thing.
Life on a small farm might seem primitive, but by living such a life we become able to discover the Great Path. I believe that one who deeply respects his neighborhood and everyday world in which he lives will be shown the greatest of all worlds.
I describe myself as an environmentalist not because I'm marching in the street with placards but because I like to be in the woods by myself.
Only nature knows how to justly proportion to the fault the punishment it deserves.
The first gatherings of the garden in May of salads, radishes and herbs made me feel like a mother about her baby - how could anything so beautiful be mine. And this emotion of wonder filled me for each vegetable as it was gathered every year. There is nothing that is comparable to it, as satisfactory or as thrilling, as gathering the vegetables one has grown.
In nature we find not only that which is expedient, but also everything which is not so inexpedient as to endanger the existence of the species.
Clouds of insects danced and buzzed in the golden autumn light, and the air was full of the piping of the song-birds. Long, glinting dragonflies shot across the path, or hung tremulous with gauzy wings and gleaming bodies.
The Forbidden Forest looked as though it had been enchanted, each tree smattered with silver, and Hagrid's cabin looked like an iced cake.
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