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 tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an "equalizer."
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the contrast between oppressive power and democratic freedom, emphasizing the significance of personal weapons in protecting liberty.
Edward Abbey's quote contrasts the oppressive instruments of dictatorship, such as military force and state control, with the rifle, which symbolizes individual empowerment and democratic ideals. By referring to the revolver as an 'equalizer,' Abbey underscores the belief that personal armament can provide ordinary citizens with the means to resist tyranny and assert their rights, thereby promoting the notion of democracy as a shared power among the people, rather than a privilege reserved for elites.
Themes
DemocracyDictatorshipArmsFreedomIndividual Rights
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of personal liberties in a democratic society.
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.
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If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
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The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
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I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
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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.
Edward AbbeyRead
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