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
Truth is always the enemy of power. And power the enemy of truth.
Interpretation
Truth and power are in constant conflict, each undermining the other.
This quote by Edward Abbey suggests a fundamental tension between truth and power. It implies that those in power often distort or suppress the truth to maintain their dominance, while the pursuit of truth can undermine established powers. Abbey's perspective highlights the ethical dilemmas faced when truth confronts authority, emphasizing the necessity for integrity and honesty in the face of coercive forces.
In practice
In a political debate, one might quote Abbey to highlight the tensions between politicians' statements and their underlying truth.
Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
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.
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.
For me there are no answers, only questions, and I am grateful that the questions go on and on. I don't look for an answer, because I don't think there is one. I'm very glad to be the bearer of a question.
Europe will never be like America. Europe is a product of history. America is a product of philosophy.
It is only in solitude that I ever find my own core.
Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence.
Call your opinions your creed, and you will change it every week.
In many ways we were drugged when we were young. We were brought up to need people. For what? For acceptance, approval, appreciation, applause.
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