The Country Boy's Creed

The natural life

The Country Boy's Creed

I believe that the Country which God made is more beautiful than the City which man made; that life out of doors and in touch with the earth is the natural life of man.

I believe that work is work wherever I find it, but that work with nature is more inspiring than work with the most intricate machinery.

I believe that the dignity of labor depends not on what you do but on how you do it; that opportunity comes to the boy on the farm as often as to a boy in the city; that life is larger and freer and happier on the farm than in town; that my success depends not upon my location, but upon myself.

I believe in working when you work, and playing when you play, and in giving and demanding a square deal in every act of life."

-- Northwest Journal of Education

Source: Kentucky Arbor and Bird Day 1914-1915, compiled by Mrs. V. O. Gilbert. Published in Frankfort, Kentucky by the State Journal Company, no publishing or copyright date given.

I doubt we'd see such an idealized view of rural life published in a journal of education today. The life of the average American child has changed in many, many ways since 1915!


Related post: The Farmer's Creed -- and Its Author, Frank I. Mann