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.
Interpretation
The act of nurturing both the emotional and physical aspects of life is interconnected.
In this quote, Masanobu Fukuoka reflects on the profound connection between cultivating one's inner emotional landscape and improving the external environment. He suggests that just as one nurtures the physical desert into a thriving ecosystem, the same care and attention are necessary for healing and enriching the human heart, highlighting the symbiotic relationship between personal development and environmental stewardship.
In practice
In a speech about environmental conservation, you might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of emotional well-being in sustainability efforts.
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.
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.
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.
Any labor which competes with slave labor must accept the economic conditions of slave labor.
I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man do I deem a matter of indifference to me.
I believe that there is a greater power in the world than the evil power of military force, of nuclear bombs -- there is the power of good, of morality, of humanitarianism.
One does what one is; one becomes what one does.
it is interesting to find that people of faith now seek defensively to say that they are no worse than fascists or Nazis or Stalinists
It is of great importance in a republic, not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers; but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.
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