Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
What's the difference between the Lone Ranger and God? There really is a Lone Ranger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote contrasts the fictional character of the Lone Ranger with the divine, suggesting that while the Lone Ranger is real, God is a concept that is debated.
Edward Abbey's quote highlights the distinction between reality and belief. The Lone Ranger, as a tangible and fictional character, represents individual heroism and action, while the reference to God invokes a deeper philosophical discussion about faith and existence. Abbey cleverly critiques our willingness to accept the existence of mythic heroes while simultaneously questioning the belief in a higher power, inviting reflection on our perceptions of truth and spirituality.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the nature of reality versus fiction.
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.
Similar quotes
If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.
We ask only that the law shall work alike on all men.
I cannot define for you what God is. I can only say that my work has proved empirically that the pattern of God exists in every man and that this pattern has at its disposal the greatest of all his energies for transformation and transfiguration of his natural being. Not only the meaning of his life but his renewal and his institutions depend on his conscious relationship with this pattern of his collective unconscious.
The network told me to get rid of Number One, the woman first lieutenant, and also get rid of 'that Martian fellow'... meaning, of course, Spock. I knew I couldn't keep both, so I gave the stoicism of the female officer to Spock, and married the actress who played Number One. Thank God it wasn't the other way around. I mean Leonard's cute, but...
I have no religious belief myself, but I don't think we should fight about it. In particular, I think that we should not rubbish moderate religious leaders like the Archbishop of Canterbury because I think we all agree that extreme fundamentalism is a threat, and we need all the allies we can muster against it.
Night's candles have burned out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountaintops." Hope tinged with melancholy - like life.