Masanobu Quotes & Sayings

Left alone, the earth maintains its own fertility, in accordance with the orderly cycle of plant and animal life. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Many people think that when we practice agriculture, nature is helping us in our efforts to grow food. This is an exclusively human-centered viewpoint ... we should instead, realize that we are receiving that which nature decides to give us. A farmer does not grow something in the sense that he or she creates it. That human is only a small part of the whole process by which nature expresses its being. The farmer has very little influence over that process ... other than being there and doing his or her small part. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I do not particularly like the word 'work.' Human beings are the only animals who have to work, and I think that is the most ridiculous thing in the world. Other animals make their livings by living, but people work like crazy, thinking that they have to in order to stay alive. The bigger the job, the greater the challenge, the more wonderful they think it is. It would be good to give up that way of thinking and live an easy, comfortable life with plenty of free time. I think that the way animals live in the tropics, stepping outside in the morning and evening to see if there is something to eat, and taking a long nap in the afternoon, must be a wonderful life. For human beings, a life of such simplicity would be possible if one worked to produce directly his daily necessities. In such a life, work is not work as people generally think of it, but simply doing what needs to be done. — Masanobu Fukuoka

In nature's cyclical rhythms, there are no grounds for the discriminatory view that underlies Darwin's view of superiority and inferiority that deems single-celled organisms as lower, and more complicated life forms as higher. It would be more appropriate to say we are all one continuous life-form. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Weeds play an important part in building soil fertility and in balancing the biological community ... — Masanobu Fukuoka

At first people ate simply because they were alive and because food was tasty. Modern people have come to think that if they do not prepare food with elaborate seasonings, the meal will be tasteless. If you do not try to make food delicious, you will find that nature has made it so. — Masanobu Fukuoka

We have come to the point at which there is no other way than to bring about a 'movement' not to bring anything about — Masanobu Fukuoka

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. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Although natural farming - since it can teach people to cultivate a deep understanding of nature - may lead to spiritual insight, it's not strictly a spiritual practice. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Ignorance, hatred and greed are killing nature. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I wonder how it is that people's philosophies have come to spin faster than the changing seasons. — Masanobu Fukuoka

A farmer does not grow something in the sense that he or she creates it. That human is only a small part of the whole process by which nature expresses its being. — Masanobu Fukuoka

One thing is all things. To resolve one matter, one must resolve all matters. Changing one thing changes all things. Once I made the decision to sow rice in the fall, I found that I could also stop transplanting, and plowing, and applying chemical fertilizers, and preparing compost, and spraying pesticides. — Masanobu Fukuoka

There is no one so great as the one who does not try to accomplish anything — Masanobu Fukuoka

If a farmer does abandon his or her "tame" fields completely to nature, mistakes and destruction are inevitable. — Masanobu Fukuoka

As far as my planting program goes, I simply broadcast rye and barley seed on separate fields in the fall ... while the rice in those areas is still standing. A few weeks after that I harvest the rice, and then spread its straw back over the fields as mulch. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I believe that a revolution can begin from this one strand of straw. Seen at a glance, this rice straw may appear light and insignificant. Hardly anyone would believe that it could start a revolution. But I have come to realize the weight and power of this straw. For me, this revolution is very real. — Masanobu Fukuoka

In olden times there were warriors, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. Agriculture was said to be closer to the source of things than trade or manufacturing, and the farmer was said to be "the cupbearer of the gods." He was always able to get by somehow or other and have enough to eat. — Masanobu Fukuoka

People think they understand things because they become familiar with them. This is only superficial knowledge. It is the knowledge of the astronomer who knows the names of the stars, the botanist who knows the classification of the leaves and flowers, the artist who knows the aesthetics of green and red. This is not to know nature itself- the earth and sky, green and red. Astronomer, botanist, and artist have done no more than grasp impressions and interpret them, each within the vault of his own mind. The more involved they become with the activity of the intellect, the more they set themselves apart and the more difficult it becomes to live naturally. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Giving up your ego is the shortest way to unification with nature. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Of course, I have made mistakes ... just as every grower does. However, I never really think of them as mistakes! — Masanobu Fukuoka

In my opinion, if 100% of the people were farming it would be ideal. If each person were given one quarter-acre, that is 1 1/4 acres to a family of five, that would be more than enough land to support the family for the whole year. If natural farming were practiced, a farmer would also have plenty of time for leisure and social activities within the village community. I think this is the most direct path toward making this country a happy, pleasant land. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The bravest person is a person with deep love. — Masanobu Taniguchi

The real path to natural farming requires that a person know what unaltered nature is, so that he or she can instinctively understand what needs to be done - and what must not be done - to work in harmony with its processes. — Masanobu Fukuoka

As we kill nature, we are killing ourselves, and God incarnate as the world as well. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Speaking biologically, fruit in a slightly shriveled state is holding its respiration and energy consumption down to the lowest possible level. It is like a person in meditation: his metabolism, respiration, and calorie consumption reach an extremely low level. Even if he fasts, the energy within the body will be conserved. In the same way, when mandarin oranges grow wrinkled, when fruit shrivels, when vegetables wilt, they are in the state that will preserve their food value for the longest possible time. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I have often said that value does not lie in material goods themselves, but when people create the conditions that make them seem necessary, their value increases. The capitalist system is based on the notion of ever-increasing production and consumption of material goods, and therefore, in the modern economy, people's value or worth comes to be determined by their possessions. But if people create conditions and environments that do not make those things necessary, the things, no matter what they are, become valueless. Cars, for example, are not considered to be of value by people who are not in a hurry. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Straw mulch, a ground cover of white clover interplanted with the crops, and temporary flooding all provide effective weed control in my fields. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Natural farming is just farming, nothing more. You don't have to be a spiritually oriented person to practice my methods. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The only sensible approach to disease and insect control, I think, is to grow sturdy crops in a healthy environment. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The simple hearth of the small farm is the true center of our universe. — Masanobu Fukuoka

If 22 bushels (1,300 pounds) of rice and 22 bushels of winter grain are harvested from a quarter acre field, then the field will support five to ten people each investing an average of less than one hour of labour per day. But if the field were turned over to pasturage, or if the grain were fed to cattle, only one person could be supported per quarter acre. Meat becomes a luxury food when its production requires land which could provide food directly for human consumption. This has been shown clearly and definitely. Each person should ponder seriously how much hardship he is causing by indulging in food so expensively produced. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The greening of the desert means sowing seeds in people's hearts and creating a green paradise of peace on earth. — Masanobu Fukuoka

By raising tall trees for windbreaks, citrus underneath, and a green manure cover down on the surface, I have found a way to take it easy and let the orchard manage itself! — Masanobu Fukuoka

The irony is that science has served only to show how small human knowledge is. — Masanobu Fukuoka

People should relate to nature as birds do. Birds don't run around carefully preparing fields, planting seeds, and harvesting food. They don't create anything ... they just receive what is there for them with a humble and grateful heart. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. — Masanobu Fukuoka

When you give life to others, you'll also be given life. — Masanobu Taniguchi

Unless people can become natural people, there can be neither natural farming nor natural food. — Masanobu Fukuoka

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. — Masanobu Fukuoka

If nature is left to itself, fertility increases. Organic remains of plants and animals accumulate and are decomposed on the surface by bacteria and fungi. With the movement of rainwater, the nutrients are taken deep into the soil to become food for microorganisms, earthworms, and other small animals. Plant roots reach to the lower soil strata and draw the nutrients back up to the surface. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Food and medicine are not two different things: the are the front and back of one body. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I started natural farming after the war with just one small plot, but gradually I acquired additional acreage by taking over surrounding pieces of abandoned land and caring for them by hand. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The more people do, the more society develops, the more problems arise. The — Masanobu Fukuoka

If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Until there is a reversal of the sense of values which cares more for size and appearance than for quality, there will be no solving the problem of food pollution. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Since I turned the fields back to their natural state, I can't say I've had any really difficult problems with insects or disease. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Nature does not change, although the way of viewing nature invariably changes from age to age. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I believe that even 'returning-to-nature' and anti pollution activities, no matter how commendable, are not moving toward a genuine solution if they are carried out solely in reaction to the over development of the present age. — Masanobu Fukuoka

We can never know the answers to great spiritual questions, but it's all right not to understand. We have been born and are living on the earth to face directly the reality of living. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Before researchers become researches they should become philosophers. — Masanobu Fukuoka

I believe that if one fathoms deeply one's own neighborhood and the everyday world in which he lives, the greatest of worlds will be revealed. — Masanobu Fukuoka

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. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Farming is not just for growing crops, it is for the cultivation ... o f human beings! — Masanobu Fukuoka

We must find our way back to true nature. We must set ourselves to the task of revitalizing the earth. Regreening the earth, sowing seeds in the desert
that is the path society must follow. — Masanobu Fukuoka

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. — Masanobu Fukuoka

My ultimate dream is to sow seeds in the desert. To revegetate the deserts is to sow seed in people's hearts. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Fast rather than slow, more rather than less
this flashy "development" is linked directly to society's impending collapse. It has only served to separate man from nature. Humanity must stop indulging the desire for material possessions and personal gain and move instead toward spiritual awareness.
Agriculture must change from large mechanical operations to small farms attached only to life itself. Material life and diet should be given a simple place. If this is done, work becomes pleasant, and spiritual breathing space becomes plentiful. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The person who can most easily take up natural agriculture is the one who doesn't have any of the common adult obstructing blocks of desire, philosophy, or religion ... the person who has the mind and heart of a child. One must simply know nature ... real nature, not the one we think we know! — Masanobu Fukuoka

When a decision is made to cope with the symptoms of a problem, it is generally assumed that the corrective measures will solve the problem itself. They seldom do. Engineers cannot seem to get this through their heads. These countermeasures are all based on too narrow a definition of what is wrong. Human measures and countermeasures proceed from limited scientific truth and judgment. A true solution can never come about in this way. — Masanobu Fukuoka

Extravagance of desire is the fundamental cause which has led the world into its present predicament. Fast rather than slow, more rather than less - this flashy "development" is linked directly to society's impending collapse. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The healing of the land and the purification of the human spirit is the same process. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The heart that loves the wicked ego creates the hated enemy. — Masanobu Fukuoka

We receive our nourishment from the Mother Earth. So we should put our hands together in an attitude of prayer and say "please" and "thank you" when dealing with nature. — Masanobu Fukuoka

But intending to understand ten things, you actually do not understand even one. If you know a hundred flowers you do not "know" a single one. — Masanobu Fukuoka

The final principle of natural farming is NO PESTICIDES. Nature is in perfect balance when left alone. — Masanobu Fukuoka

There is no time in modern agriculture for a farmer to write a poem or compose a song. — Masanobu Fukuoka