Nine economic principles of a rural farmer

1. Be happy with you’ve got. Don’t always be looking for something better.
   

2. Don’t buy anything you don’t need.
   

3. Don’t buy what you ought to save. Don’t buy what you ought to make.
   

4. Unless you absolutely have got to do it, don’t buy anything new.
   

5. If somebody tries to sell you something to ‘save labor,’ look out. If you can work, then work.
   

6. If other people want to buy a lot of new stuff and fill up the country with junk, use the junk.
   

7. Some good things are cheap, even free. Use them first.
   

8. Keep watch for what nobody wants. Sort through the leavings.
   

9. You might know, or find out, what it is to need help. So help people.
   

Source: Berry, Wendell. Roots to the earth: page 47.