I appreciated this wisdom, born of years of thoughtful, grace-full living before falling asleep last night.

Conservative rugged individualists and liberal rugged individualists believe alike that they should be “free” to get as much as they can of whatever they want. Their major doctrinal difference is that they want (some of the time) different sorts of things.

“Every man for himself” is a doctrine for a feeding frenzy or for a panic in a burning nightclub, appropriate for sharks or hogs or perhaps a cascade of lemmings. A society wishing to endure must speak the language of caretaking, faith-keeping, kindness, neighborliness, and peace. That language is another precious resource that cannot be “privatized.”

Source: Novelist, farmer, and poet Wendell Berry in “Rugged Individualism” in The Way of Ignorance and Other Essays (Shoemaker & Hoard; 2005) p. 11