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
Why I oppose the nuclear-arms race: I prefer the human race.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a preference for humanity over the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Edward Abbey's quote highlights the importance of valuing human life and the human experience above the dangers posed by the nuclear arms race. It suggests that the pursuit of such destructive capabilities undermines our shared humanity and calls for a return to what truly matters: the welfare of people and society as a whole.
In practice
In a speech about disarmament, you might quote Abbey to emphasize the need for prioritizing human welfare.
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.
With truths of a certain kind, it is not enough to make them appear convincing: one must also make them felt. Of such kind are moral truths.
Religion is like a map. The route isn't important. It's the destination that matters.
This uneasiness comes over me from time to time, and I feel as if I've somehow been pieced together from two different puzzles.
The average is that which no person quite ever is.
Law never is, but is always about to be.
Cities have sexes: London is a man, Paris a woman, and New York a well-adjusted transsexual.
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