The Most Favorable Occupation

"To Adam was given the work of caring for the garden." AH 27.

"It was the design of God that man should find happiness in the employment of tending the things He had created, and that his wants should be met with the fruits of the trees of the garden." AH 27.

"The tilling of the soil, the employment that God appointed to man in Eden, opens a field in which there is opportunity for multitudes to gain a subsistence." MH 189.

"By the distribution of the land among the people, God provided for them, as for the dwellers in Eden, the occupation most favorable to development--the care of plants and animals." Ed 43.

"Many kinds of labor adapted to different persons may be devised. But the working of the land will be a special blessing to the worker. There is a great want of intelligent men to till the soil, who will be thorough." FE 323.

"The occupations requiring sedentary habits are the most dangerous, for they take men away from the open air and sunshine, and train one set of faculties, while other organs are becoming weak from inaction. Men carry on their work, perfect their business, and soon lie down in the grave. Much more favorable is the condition of one whose occupation keeps him in the open air, exercising his muscles, while his brain is equally taxed, and all the organs have the privilege of doing their work." FE 319.

"No line of manual training is of more value than agriculture. A greater effort should be made to create and to encourage an interest in agricultural pursuits." Ed 219.

"If people only knew the value of the products of the ground, which the earth brings forth in their season, more diligent efforts would be made to cultivate the soil." CD 312.

"The people should learn as far as possible to depend upon the products that they can obtain from the soil." FE 325.

"It was God's plan for man to till the earth; . . . the first man, the ruler of the whole world, was given a garden to cultivate; and . . . many of the world's greatest men, its real nobility, have been tillers of the soil." Ed 219.

"The king himself is served by the field." Ecclesiastes 5:9.

"He who taught Adam and Eve in Eden how to tend the garden, would instruct men to-day. There is wisdom for him who holds the plow, and plants and sows the seed. The earth has its concealed treasures, and the Lord would have thousands and tens of thousands working upon the soil." FE 326.

"Men are needed in different communities to show the people how riches are to be obtained from the soil. The cultivation of land will bring its return." FE 317.

"Let the teacher call attention to what the Bible says about agriculture; that it was God's plan for man to till the earth. . . . Show the opportunities in such a life." CG 356.

"In the study of agriculture, let pupils be given not only theory, but practice. While they learn what science can teach in regard to the nature and preparation of the soil, the value of different crops, and the best methods of production, let them put their knowledge to use. . . . Thus may be awakened a genuine interest, an ambition to do the work in the best possible manner. Such an ambition, together with the invigorating effect of exercise, sunshine, and pure air, will create a love for agricultural labor that with many youth will determine their choice of an occupation." Ed 219, 220.

"He who earns his livelihood by agriculture escapes many temptations and enjoys unnumbered privileges and blessings denied to those whose work lies in the great cities." Ed 219.