Good agriculture is virtually synonymous with small-scale agriculture—that is, with what is conventionally called “the small farm.”

— Wendell Berry, 1981

Land wasters always own or “control” more land than they can or will pay attention to. Some people, of course, will not cherish or pay attention to any land at all. But with land as with anything else, those who have a lot will tend to think that a little waste is affordable. When land is held in appropriately small parcels, on the other hand, a little waste tends to be noticed, regretted, and corrected, because it is felt that a little loss cannot be afforded. And that is the correct perception: it cannot be afforded.

— Wendell Berry, 1981