Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that modern society can lead individuals to age without achieving maturity or true adulthood.
Edward Abbey's quote reflects on the impact of contemporary technoindustrial culture on personal development. It implies that in this fast-paced, technology-driven society, individuals may miss out on essential life experiences and growth that define manhood, resulting in a life of immaturity despite physical aging. This commentary on cultural influences raises questions about the values and priorities that govern our lives, emphasizing the need for deeper connections and personal growth.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about personal development during a public seminar on self-improvement.
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.
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Repeal that [welfare] law, and you will soon see a change in their manners. ... Six days shalt thou labor, though one of the old commandments long treated as out of date, will again be looked upon as a respectable precept; industry will increase, and with it plenty among the lower people; their circumstances will mend, and more will be done for their happiness by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all your estates among them.
Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.
Havenβt you heard of the music of the spheres?β asked the dragon. βItβs the music that space makes to itself. All the spirits inside all the stars are singing. Iβm a star spirit. I sing too. The music of the spheres is what makes space so peaceful.
Man is born an asocial and antisocial being. The newborn child is a savage. Egoism is his nature. Only the experience of life and the teachings of his parents, his brothers, sisters, playmates, and later of other people FORCE HIM to acknowledge the advantages of social cooperation and accordingly to change his behavior.
What is crime amongst the multitude, is only vice among the few.
Everything in the world is beautiful, but Man only recognizes beauty if he sees it either seldom or from afar. Listen, today we are gods! Our blue shadows are enormous! We move in a gigantic, joyful world!