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
Water is the softest of all things, yet it is the most powerful. The ocean patiently allows all things to flow into it. It is always flexible. The Tao is not about grasping, but allowing, like water.
And I hope I'm forgiven for Thug Livin when I die.
Any person, brought into the presence of this fact, stops for a few moments and remains pensive and silent; and then generally leaves, carrying with him forever a sharper, keener sense of our incessant motion through space.
To introduce something altogether new would mean to begin all over, to become ignorant again, and to run the old, old risk of failing to learn.
Even when tied in a thousand knots, the string is still but one.
As long as a journalist tells the truth, in conscience and fairness, it is not his job to worry about consequences. The truth is never as dangerous as a lie in the long run. I truly believe the truth sets men free.