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The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, but He is no longer the only one to do so. When some remote ancestor of ours invented the shovel, he became a giver: he could plant a tree. And when the axe was invented, he became a taker: he could chop it down. Whoever owns land has thus assumed, whether he knows it or not, the divine functions of creating and destroying plants.

Other ancestors, less remote, have since invented other tools, but each of these, upon close scrutiny, proves to be either an elaboration of, or an accessory to, the original pair of basic implements. We classify ourselves into vocations, each of which either wields some particular tool, or sells it, or repairs it, or sharpens it, or dispenses advice on how to do so; by such division of labors we avoid responsibility for the misuse of any tool save our own. But there is one vocation – philosophy – which knows that all men, by what they think about and wish for, in effect wield all tools. It knows that men thus determine, by their manner of thinking and wishing, whether it is worth while to wield any.

–from “Axe-in-Hand”, A Sand County Almanac

I like this understanding of our power. We humans have armed ourselves with such tools of creation and destruction that we wield an almost divine power; and with this power has come the responsibility to use it wisely. This may be where we are in danger of going fatally awry. I also like the definition of philosophy. And finally, isn’t this a lovely sample of his thoughtful writing? I highly recommend A Sand County Almanac.

Filed under: miscellaneous | Tagged: nature, nonfiction |