Masanobu Fukuoka quotes

Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer and philosopher, celebrated for pioneering natural farming and sustainable agriculture. His approach, often called "do-nothing farming," rejected conventional techniques like tilling and chemical use. He inspired a global movement for ecological harmony and simple living through his teachings and books. Here are 11 of his quotes:

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

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

Masanobu Fukuoka

Ignorance, hatred and greed are killing nature.

Masanobu Fukuoka

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

Masanobu Fukuoka

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

Masanobu Fukuoka

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

Masanobu Fukuoka

When it is understood that one loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them, the essence of natural farming will be realized. The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.

Masanobu Fukuoka

If 22 bushels (1,300 pounds) of rice and 22 bushels of winter grain are harvested from a quarter acre field such as one of these, then the field will support five to ten people each investing an average of less than one hour of labor 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

Eventually I decided to give my thoughts a form, to put them into practice, and so to determine whether my understanding was right or wrong.

Masanobu Fukuoka