A human being needs some pride in knowing
Some thing that he himself can verify,
If it’s no more than the proper time for hoeing
And planting beans, or how to still the cry
Of newborn things; he needs decisive acts
That keep his knowledge clear-cut and unblurred,
To hold him steady in the midst of facts
For which he has to take another’s word.
Although it’s fine to know the sun consists
Of hot atomic gases, anyone
Who crumbles sun-warm earth in his own fists
To make it right for seedlings, works with sun,
And, doing what he knows and understands,
Is proud of having working knowledge in his hands.
–Think About These Things (written in 1947?)