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
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Wilderness is essential for the human spirit, just like water and food.
Edward Abbey emphasizes the importance of wilderness to human well-being, asserting that it is a fundamental necessity rather than a luxury. He argues that when a civilization disregards and destroys its wild spaces, it loses touch with its roots and undermines the very principles that allow civilization to thrive.
Themes
WildernessNatureCivilizationNecessityHuman Spirit
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about environmental conservation, this quote can highlight the importance of preserving natural spaces.
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.
Edward AbbeyRead
The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
Edward AbbeyRead
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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