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
enemy states
I am an enemy of the State. But isn't everyone?
war government insanity
As war and government prove, insanity is the most contagious of diseases.
god-is-love bloody
God is love? Not bloody likely.
rain american-west space
The fire. The odor of burning juniper is the sweetest fragrance on the face of the earth, in my honest judgment; I doubt if all the smoking censers of Dante's paradise could equal it. One breath of juniper smoke, like the perfume of sagebrush after rain, evokes in magical catalysis, like certain music, the space and light and clarity and piercing strangeness of the American West. Long may it burn.
mean men ideal-society
The ideal society can be described, quite simply, as that in which no man has the power of means to coerce others.
cities clouds june
What ideal, immutable Platonic cloud could equal the beauty and perfection of any ordinary everyday cloud floating over, say, Tuba City, Arizona, on a hot day in June?
knowing culture modern
In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood.
fool mankind foolishness
Only a fool is astonished by the foolishness of mankind.
gun people natural
Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Of course, people with guns kill more people. But that's only natural. It's hard. But it's fair.
sea fishing rivers
Why is it that the destruction of something created by humans is called vandalism, yet the destruction of something created by God is called development?
beautiful character way
Each thing in its way, when true to its own character, is equally beautiful. (p 41)
philosophy lying mean
Under the desert sun, in the dogmatic clarity, the fables of theology and the myths of classical philosophy dissolve like mist. The air is clean, the rock cuts cruelly into flesh; shatter the rock and the odor of flint rises to your nostrils, bitter and sharp. Whirlwinds dance across the salt flats, a pillar of dust by day; the thornbush breaks into flame at night. What does it mean? It means nothing. It is as it is and has no need for meaning. The desert lies beneath and soars beyond any possible human qualification. Therefore, sublime.
turkeys envy noble
Let us praise the noble turkey vulture: No one envies him; he harms nobody; and he contemplates our little world from a most serene and noble height.
america trying god-bless
God bless America. Let's try to save some of it.