Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
What's the difference between the Lone Ranger and God? There really is a Lone Ranger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote contrasts the fictional character of the Lone Ranger with the divine, suggesting that while the Lone Ranger is real, God is a concept that is debated.
Edward Abbey's quote highlights the distinction between reality and belief. The Lone Ranger, as a tangible and fictional character, represents individual heroism and action, while the reference to God invokes a deeper philosophical discussion about faith and existence. Abbey cleverly critiques our willingness to accept the existence of mythic heroes while simultaneously questioning the belief in a higher power, inviting reflection on our perceptions of truth and spirituality.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the nature of reality versus fiction.
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.
Similar quotes
I can make the earth stop in its tracks. I made the blue cars go away. I can make myself invisible or small. I can become gigantic & reach the farthest things. I can change the course of nature. I can place myself anywhere in space or time. I can summon the dead. I can perceive events on other worlds, in my deepest inner mind, & in the minds of others. I can I am
More and more of us feel like emergency-room physicians, permanently on call, required to heal ourselves but unable to find the prescription for all the clutter on our desk.
Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.
The challenge of modern freedom, or the combination of isolation and freedom which confronts you, is to make yourself up. The danger is that you may emerge from the process as a not-entirely-human creature. (Referenced in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young)
Just beyond the ticket booth Father had painted on a wall in bright red letters the question: DO YOU KNOW WHICH IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL IN THE ZOO? An arrow pointed to a small curtain. There were so many eager, curious hands that pulled at the curtain that we had to replace it regularly. Behind it was a mirror.
Ordinary life does not interest me.