so,
friends, 
do something every day 
something that won't compute. 
love the Lord. 
love the world. 
work for nothing 
take all that you have and be poor 
love someone who does not deserve it
denounce the government and 
embrace the flag. 
hope to live in that free republic 
for which it stands. 
Give your approval to all you cannot understand.
praise ignorance, 
for what man has not encountered
he has not destroyed.
ask the questions that have no answers. 
invest in the millennium.
plant sequoias. 
say that your main crop is the forest 
that you did not plant, 
that you will not live to harvest. 
say that the leaves are harvested when they have 
rotted into mold. 
call that profit. 
prophesy such returns. 
put your faith in the two inches of 
humus that will build under the trees 
every thousand years. 
listen to carrion-
put your ear close, 
and hear the faint chattering of the 
songs that are to come.
expect the end of the world.
laugh. 
laughter is immeasurable.
be joyful that you have considered all the facts. 
so long as women do not go cheap for power, 
please women more than men. 
ask yourself: 
will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?
will this disturb the sleep 
of a woman near to giving birth?
go with your love to the fields. 
lie down in the shade. 
rest your head in her lap. 
swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.
as soon as the generals and the politicos 
can predict the motions of your mind, 
lose it. 
leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, 
the way you didn't go. 
be like the fox 
who makes more tracks than necessary, 
some in the wrong direction. 
practice resurrection. 
-wendell berry