Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey
Edward Paul Abbeywas an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental groups, and the non-fiction work Desert Solitaire...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth29 January 1927
CountryUnited States of America
desert intimate draws
What draws us into the desert is the search for something intimate in the remote.
knowing grows wiser
Is it possible to grow wiser without knowing it? One hopes so. We all hope so.
water desert world
Saving the world was merely a hobby. My *vocation* has been that of inspector of desert water holes.
book fate people
Readers, not critics, are the people who determine a book's eventual fate.
dream genius duty
A genius is always on duty; even his dreams are tax deductible.
texas utah space
Alaska is our biggest, buggiest, boggiest state. Texas remains our largest unfrozen state. But mountainous Utah, if ironed out flat, would take up more space on a map than either.
pain sorrow why-not
Why must love always be accompanied--sooner or later--by sorrow and pain? Why not? Because pure bliss is for pure idiots.
wise men astrology
Who needs astrology? The wise man gets by on fortune cookies.
mean leader clubs
A leader leads from in front, by the power of example. A ruler pushes from behind, by means of the club, the whip, the power of fear.
mother pie tradition
Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as mother love or cherry pie.
men space might
We are preoccupied with time. If we could learn to love space as deeply as we are now obsessed with time, we might discover a new meaning in the phrase to live like men.
life hiking waste
Walking takes longer... than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed.
deep-understanding kidney-stones demand
One must be reasonable in one's demands on life. For myself, all that I ask is: (1) accurate information; (2) coherent knowledge; (3) deep understanding; (4) infinite loving wisdom; (5) no more kidney stones, please.
fashion communication fads
Instant communication is not communication at all but merely a frantic, trivial, nerve-wracking bombardment of cliches, threats, fads, fashions, gibberish and advertising.