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 great question of life is not the question of death but the question of life. Fear of death shames us all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that life, rather than death, is the crucial aspect we need to confront and cherish, while fearing death detracts from our living experience.
Edward Abbey's quote reflects on the fundamental issue of existence, suggesting that the true challenge lies not in the inevitability of death but in how we choose to live our lives. The fear of death can cloud our appreciation of life and prevent us from embracing the present fully. By focusing on life and its opportunities instead of being consumed by the fear of death, we can lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Themes
LifeDeathFearExistenceMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about existentialism, this quote can illustrate a perspective on embracing life.
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
Similar quotes
There are two things that are suited to humble the souls of men, and they are, first, a due consideration of God, and then of themselves - of God, in His greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty, and authority; of ourselves, in our mean, abject, and sinful condition.
John OwenRead
We live in an age rather skeptical of truth, of its existence." There is a "tendency to believe that nothing is definitive, and think that the truth is given by consent or by what we want. The question arises: does "the" truth really exist? What is "the" truth? Can we know it? Can we find it?
Pope FrancisRead
Dreaming of a tomorrow, which tomorrow, will be as distant then as 'tis today.
Lope De VegaRead
Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy, the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates manβs fundamental right-the right to life-and establishes the fundamental principle of statism: that a manβs life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle. Once that principle is accepted, the rest is only a matter of time.
Ayn RandRead
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought.
William ShakespeareRead
And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very rightly wrong. You invent nothing, you think you are inventing, you think you are escaping, and all you do is stammer out your lesson, the remnants of a pensum one day got by heart and long forgotten, life without tears, as it is wept.
Samuel BeckettRead