Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
The great question of life is not the question of death but the question of life. Fear of death shames us all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that life, rather than death, is the crucial aspect we need to confront and cherish, while fearing death detracts from our living experience.
Edward Abbey's quote reflects on the fundamental issue of existence, suggesting that the true challenge lies not in the inevitability of death but in how we choose to live our lives. The fear of death can cloud our appreciation of life and prevent us from embracing the present fully. By focusing on life and its opportunities instead of being consumed by the fear of death, we can lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about existentialism, this quote can illustrate a perspective on embracing life.
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.
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.
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Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated.
A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.
Matter is spirit moving slowly enough to be seen.
Then when dusk began to settle he would retrace his steps, back to his own world. And on the way home, a loneliness would always claim his heart. He could never quite get a grip on what it was. It just seemed that whatever lay waiting "out there" was all too vast, too overwhelming for him to possibly ever make a dent in.
It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told.
What's happened to me,' he thought. It was no dream.