
The people of wealth and power do not know what it means to take a place seriously: to think it worthy of love and study and careful work. The Amish question “What will this do to our community?” tends toward the right answer for the world. The only sustainable city—and this, to me, is the indispensable ideal and goal—is a city in balance with its countryside. The real work of planet-saving will be small, humble, and humbling, and (insofar as it involves love) pleasing and rewarding.
~ Wendell Berry