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
Charity should be spontaneous. Calculated altruism is an affront.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Charity should come naturally and not from a selfish calculation, as that diminishes its true value.
Edward Abbey emphasizes the idea that true charity is an act of selfless giving that arises from genuine compassion rather than a strategic or selfish motivation. When acts of kindness are performed with the intention of self-gain or calculation, they lose their authenticity and can be seen as insincere, thus undermining the very essence of altruism.
Themes
CharityAltruismSelflessnessCompassionAuthenticity
In practice
Example use cases
During a charity event, I quoted Edward Abbey to inspire people to give from the heart.
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.
Edward AbbeyRead
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.
Edward AbbeyRead
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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Let me make no bones about it: I write from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. Nothing is more repulsive to me than the idea of myself setting up a little universe of my own choosing and propounding a little immoralistic message. I write with a solid belief in all the Christian dogmas.
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(M)aybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being people.
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