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
mad alive half
Only the half-mad are wholly alive.
philosophy political growth
An economic system which can only expand or expire must be false to all that is human.
machines wilderness left-behind
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.
fool mankind foolishness
Only a fool is astonished by the foolishness of mankind.
adventure men feet
A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.
travel fun crazy
There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.
dream nightmare terrible
The greater your dreams, the more terrible your nightmares.
adventure cutting civilization
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.
government enemy needs
All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?
rocks climbing hiking
In the American Southwest, I began a lifelong love affair with a pile of rock.
law liberty citizens
Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.
risk alive path
A venturesome minority will always be eager to set off on their own, and no obstacles should be placed in their path; let them take risks, for godsake, let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned, eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches - that is the right and privilege of any free American.
taken democracy anarchy
Anarchism is democracy taken seriously.
leadership men maturity
Grown men do not need leaders.