Rag paper, containing hemp fiber, is the highest quality and

Hearken, O children of wisdom, and attend to the words of Jack Herer, who devoted his life to revealing the forgotten virtues of the hemp plant. He proclaims that rag paper, containing hemp fiber, is the highest quality and longest lasting of all papers ever made. Though it may weaken when wet, once dry it returns to its full strength. In these words lies not only a tribute to the resilience of hemp but also a parable about endurance, renewal, and the lasting power of that which is rooted in nature’s design.

The origin of this insight lies in the long history of paper itself. For centuries, before the dominance of wood pulp, civilizations relied on rag paper made with linen and hemp fibers. Such paper carried sacred texts, legal charters, and timeless works of art. The Declaration of Independence of the United States was drafted upon hemp-based paper, chosen not for chance but for its durability. Where wood pulp yellows and crumbles with time, hemp-based paper endures through generations, retaining its strength as though nature herself had sealed it with permanence.

Consider the symbolic power of Herer’s words. To be torn when wet, yet regain strength when dry, is the story not only of hemp paper but of the human condition. We, too, may be weakened in moments of trial, our fibers strained by sorrow or hardship. Yet, like hemp, when the storm passes and we dry in the sunlight of renewal, we regain our strength, often greater than before. In this way, hemp paper becomes an emblem of resilience and restoration, echoing the eternal rhythm of fall and rise, of weakness and recovery.

History offers vivid examples. The Gutenberg Bible, one of the earliest great works printed in Europe, was made on hemp-based rag paper. Its pages, centuries old, remain strong and legible to this day. Compare this with modern wood-pulp paper, which crumbles after mere decades, its weakness exposed by time. Thus, the wisdom of the ancients, preserved in hemp, becomes a lesson for the present: build not on that which is fleeting, but on that which endures, even when forgotten by modern haste.

Emotionally, Herer’s words carry a cry of remembrance. They call us back to a knowledge cast aside, to recognize that true strength lies not in the cheap and convenient, but in the natural, the enduring, the sustainable. The hemp fiber, humble and strong, outlasts that which is mass-produced for profit alone. His words thus are both a praise of hemp’s resilience and a critique of the ways in which modern industry abandoned wisdom for expediency.

The lesson extends beyond paper. In life, build foundations not upon the fleeting, but upon the enduring. Let your choices be like hemp fiber: strong, renewable, and resilient. Do not despair when trials weaken you, for like the rag paper soaked and dried, you too can return to full strength. The true measure of strength is not in never being weakened, but in the power to recover, to endure, and to remain steadfast across the centuries.

O seeker of wisdom, take this teaching into your heart. Choose what endures. Honor resilience. Value strength not only in the moment of ease but in the capacity to withstand time and trial. Just as hemp paper carries knowledge across centuries, so too can your life, rooted in endurance and renewal, become a vessel of strength for generations to come.

Finally, let the lesson endure: strength and longevity are born of resilience. That which may falter in hardship can rise again stronger when the storm has passed. As Jack Herer proclaimed, hemp paper is not only the finest medium of words but also a parable of life itself—fragile when tested, but enduring when restored, a testament to the power of nature and the strength of the human spirit.