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
The consolation of reading biography: Most great men have led lives even more miserable than our own.
Interpretation
Reading biographies can provide comfort by revealing that even great individuals faced severe hardships.
Edward Abbey's quote highlights the value of biographies in understanding that many celebrated figures in history have endured significant struggles, often more severe than those we experience in our own lives. This perspective can serve as both a comfort and a reminder that greatness does not exempt one from adversity; in fact, it often comes from overcoming it.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, one might quote Abbey to illustrate that personal struggles are universally shared.
Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
I 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.
If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
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.
We shouldn't be looking for heroes, we should be looking for good ideas.
A wise man first thinks and then speaks and a fool speaks first and then thinks.
Try viewing everyone who comes into your life as a teacher.
The trouble with putting armor on is that, while it protects you from pain, it also protects you from pleasure.
I'm not doing anything, and yet I'm also doing the most important thing a man can do: I'm listening to what I needed to hear from myself.
Know mankind well, don't degrade every man as evil, and don't exalt every man thinking he is good. He who cannot discover himself; cannot discover the world.
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