Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that modern society can lead individuals to age without achieving maturity or true adulthood.
Edward Abbey's quote reflects on the impact of contemporary technoindustrial culture on personal development. It implies that in this fast-paced, technology-driven society, individuals may miss out on essential life experiences and growth that define manhood, resulting in a life of immaturity despite physical aging. This commentary on cultural influences raises questions about the values and priorities that govern our lives, emphasizing the need for deeper connections and personal growth.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about personal development during a public seminar on self-improvement.
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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Everything that depends on the action of nature is by nature as good as it can be.
I saw firsthand what focusing on the wrong things, elevating the wrong people can do - the collateral damage that can be created by allowing somebody to live their lives without accountability.
Poverty does not make people terrorists, but terrorists can exploit the frustration it creates and use it as a breeding-ground for violent ideas.
Live and allow others to live; hurt no one; life is dear to all living beings.
Let us work without desire for name or fame or rule over others. Let us be free from the triple bonds of lust, greed of gain, and anger. And this truth is with us!
Unwinds didn't go out with a bang-they didn't even go out with a whimper. they went out with the silence of a candle flame pinched between two fingers.