Quote Of The Day By Wendell Berry: 'I Come Into The Presence Of Still Water. And I Feel...'

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Wendell Berry could be called a modern-day Henry David Thoreau. The Kentucky-born poet and author still lives on his family's 200-year-old farm, where he regularly writes about the importance of appreciating and maintaining nature. Berry's most groundbreaking work, 1977's "The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture," calls for a return to sustainable farming and away from industrial agriculture — a message that resonates even more deeply today. Not content just to sit behind his writing desk, Berry is also a proud activist who has participated in several major protests against nuclear power plants and mountaintop coal mining. 

His daughter, Mary Berry, carries on the celebrated writer's work through the Berry Center, an education and conservation nonprofit. In 2010, Berry was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama, but he's hardly content to rest on his laurels. The prolific poet, essayist, and novelist, who turned 92 in August 2026, continues to inspire readers all over the world, with his most recent book released in 2025. Naturally, our quote of the day is one of Berry's most beautiful reflections on maintaining a relationship with the earth.

Wendell Berry published his poem "The Peace of Wild Things" in 2012, when he was 78, which should be a lesson to anyone who thinks they can't accomplish great things in, or even following, midlife! The short verse describes the comfort he finds in communing with nature, "[w]hen despair for the world grows in me" so much that he finds it hard to sleep. 

Finding a quiet spot among wood drakes and herons, "I come into the presence of still water," Berry evocatively writes. "And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." 

In just a few lines, Wendell Berry's "The Peace of Wild Things" sums up the difference between man and nature. We spend our time looking to the future and living in anxiety over what might be but, as the poet notes, animals and trees "do not tax their lives with forethought of grief." The imagery of undisturbed water adds to the calm tone of the verse, while the "day-blind stars," waiting to shine when night falls, are a reminder that some things are constant even if we can't always see them. 

Research shows that spending just 20 minutes a day in a natural environment can reduce stress and blood pressure, increase happiness, and lead to better sleep. The Japanese even have a word for it: shinrin-yoku, or "forest bathing." Beyond relaxation, the benefits of being around water, trees, and wildlife can lead to more mindful living more generally too. Soak in the sounds, scents, and sights of these eternal beauties and let their serenity remind you to live in the present moment. Berry's poems and books also encourage readers to help keep these natural wonders alive for future generations.

• "And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear."
• "To cherish what remains of the earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival."
• "The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings."
• "Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries into a cup."
• "All right, every day ain't going to be the best day of your life, don't worry about that. If you stick to it you hold the possibility open that you will have better days."