QuoteProject
I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation.
Edward Abbey
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the beauty of solitude in nature, revealing how isolation can foster a deeper appreciation for the world around us.

In this quote, Edward Abbey expresses the profound experience of solitude in nature, emphasizing that distance from others can lead to a beautiful, serene connection with the environment. Instead of feeling lonely, he finds joy and fulfillment in the stillness and beauty of the night sky, suggesting that solitude can provide a unique perspective on life and encourage a sense of peace and connection with the universe.

Themes

SolitudeNatureBeautyStillnessExultation

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared in a nature conservation discussion to highlight the importance of solitude in appreciating nature.

More from Edward Abbey

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
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.
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

Clouds of insects danced and buzzed in the golden autumn light, and the air was full of the piping of the song-birds. Long, glinting dragonflies shot across the path, or hung tremulous with gauzy wings and gleaming bodies.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
No one is an environmentalist by birth. It is only your path, your life, your travels that awaken you.
Yann Arthus-BertrandRead
People in cities may forget the soil for as long as a hundred years, but Mother Nature's memory is long and she will not let them forget indefinitely.
Henry A. WallaceRead
Third, there is value in any experience that exercises those ethical restraints collectively called 'sportsmanship'. Our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is the voluntary limitation in the use of these armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of Gadgets in the pursuit of wild things.
Aldo LeopoldRead
O frost bitten blossoms, That are unfolding your wings From out the envious black branches. Bloom quickly and make much of the sunshine. The twigs conspire against you! Hear hem! They hold you from behind.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
We had a sunset of a very fine sort. The vast plain of the sea was marked off in bands of sharply-contrasted colors: great stretches of dark blue, others of purple, others of polished bronze; the billowy mountains showed all sorts of dainty browns and greens, blues and purples and blacks, and the rounded velvety backs of certain of them made one want to stroke them, as one would the sleek back of a cat.
Mark TwainRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.