“The sunlight now lay over the valley perfectly still. I went over to the graveyard beside the church and found them under the old cedars... I am finding it a little hard to say that I felt them resting there, but I did. I felt their completeness as whatever they had been in the world.I knew I had come there out of kindness, theirs and mine. The grief that came to me then was nothing like the grief I had felt for myself alone... This grief had something in it of generosity, some nearness to joy. In a strange way it added to me what I had lost. I saw that, for me, this country would always be populated with presences and absences, presences of absences, the living and the dead. The world as it is would always be a reminder of the world that was, and of the world that is to come.”

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About Wendell Berry

American poet and farmer, born 1934. He is best known for his lyrical essays on rural life, sustainability, and ecological responsibility, blending poetry with practical wisdom. His work often critiques industrial agriculture and advocates for small-scale farming as a moral and environmental necessity.

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"The sunlight now lay over the valley perfectly still. I went over to…" — Wendell Berry | Daily Quotes