Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
Edward AbbeyRead
By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.
Interpretation
What this quote means
By eighteen, a person has experienced enough to reflect upon throughout their life.
Edward Abbey suggests that by the age of eighteen, individuals have gone through a significant amount of emotional experiences, including both joy and heartache. This wealth of experiences serves as a foundation for deep reflection and personal growth, potentially informing their wisdom and understanding for many years to come.
Themes
ReflectionExperienceWisdomGrowthEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to encourage students to reflect on their past experiences.
More from Edward Abbey
All quotes βI love America because it is a confused, chaotic mess - and I hope we can keep it this way for at least another thousand years. The permissive society is the free society.
Edward AbbeyRead
If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
Edward AbbeyRead
The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
Edward AbbeyRead
I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
Edward AbbeyRead
Why can't we simply borrow what is useful to us from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, especially Zen, as we borrow from Christianity, science, American Indian traditions and world literature in general, including philosophy, and let the rest go hang? Borrow what we need but rely principally upon our own senses, common sense and daily living experience.
Edward AbbeyRead
Similar quotes
Americans are like a rich father who wishes he knew how to give his son the hardships that made him rich.
Robert FrostRead
Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you can not bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond that pain.
Khalil GibranRead
If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances.
Albert EinsteinRead
Whenever a man's friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old.
Victor HugoRead
Awareness must be like the rays of the sun: extending everywhere, illuminating all.
B.K.S. IyengarRead
It's amazing what we lose in life by listening to fear, instead of listening to God.
Joyce MeyerRead