Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to set foot in it. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope; without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of nature and wilderness for our well-being, even for those who may never physically experience it.
Edward Abbey's quote highlights the essential need for wilderness in our lives, underscoring that even if we never physically encounter it, the existence of untouched nature provides hope and a mental refuge. This connection to wild places is crucial for maintaining balance and sanity in the often chaotic, urban environments we inhabit; without such an escape, society risks falling into harmful behaviors as individuals seek relief from urban stressors.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, one could use this quote to emphasize preserving untouched nature for future generations.
More from Edward Abbey
All quotes →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.
Similar quotes
The garden is a living, pulsing, singing, scratching, warring, erotic, and generally rowdy thing. I may find peace in its midst, but I regard it as a whole with many parts, a plural organism.
My belief is that what comes across on the television is a capture of my enthusiasm and my passion for wildlife.
Evolution did not intend trees to grow singly. Far more than ourselves they are social creatures, and no more natural as isolated specimens than man is as a marooned sailor or hermit.
It is the preservation of the species, not of individuals, which appears to be the design of Deity throughout the whole of nature.
As a child, I used to have a secret dread - and a recurring nightmare - of the whole world becoming city, being covered with cement and buildings and streets. No more country. No more woods.
Wine is earth's answer to the sun.