The Conservationist

"A farm is not beautiful unless it is productive. Reasonable productivity prevailed; he had to keep half an eye (all he could spare) on everything, all the time, to achieve even that much, and of course he had made it his business to pick up a working knowledge of husbandry, animal and crop, so that he couldn't easily be hoodwinked by his people there and could plan farming operations with some authority."

"He rolls onto his side, where he has the impression the reeds facing him hide him as drawn curtains keep out day. The sense of familiarity, of some kind of unwelcome knowledge or knowing, is slow to ebb. As it does, it leaves space in his mind; or uncovers, like the retreat of a high tide, carrying away silt."

"You don't have to be a believer in a lot of superstition and nonsense -- there's a difference between thinking to oneself and thinking as a form of conversation, even if there are no answers."

"To keep anything the way you like it for yourself you have to have the stomach to ignore -- dead and hidden -- whatever intrudes. Those for whom life is cheapest recognise that."