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
Without courage, all other virtues are useless.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Courage is essential for all other virtues to have meaning and impact.
This quote by Edward Abbey emphasizes the foundational role of courage in the spectrum of human virtues. Without the bravery to act upon one's beliefs and values, virtues such as kindness, honesty, and compassion lose their significance, as they cannot be put into practice against adversity or opposition.
Themes
CourageVirtuesBraveryValuesAction
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming fears, one could say, 'As Edward Abbey once stated, without courage, all other virtues are useless.'
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.
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
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