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
Wilderness and motors are incompatible and the former can best be experienced, understood and enjoyed when the machines are left behind where they belong -- on the superhighways and in the parking lots, on the reservoirs and in the marinas.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the incompatibility between technology and the natural wilderness.
Edward Abbey's quote articulates the belief that true immersion in nature requires a separation from machines and technology. He suggests that the wilderness should be experienced in its purest form, free from the noise and distractions of motors and vehicles, which tend to detract from the serenity and beauty of natural spaces.
Themes
WildernessNatureTechnologyMachinesExperienceEnjoyment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for environmental conservation.
More from Edward Abbey
All quotes →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.
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If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
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The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
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I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
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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
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