Background Image
...
I Have Written Much About Many Good Places. But The Best Places Of All, I Have Never Mentioned.
-Edward Abbey
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

I Have Written Much

Edward Abbey
...
I Have Written Much About Many Good Places. But The Best Places Of All, I Have Never Mentioned.

Understanding the Quote: "i have written much about many good places. but the best places..."

This quote by Edward Abbey reflects deeply on the theme of best place. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Best Place, Written, Good Place, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Edward Abbey interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey is celebrated for insightful thoughts on best place and written. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 28754
Topic
Best Place
Written
Good Place
More From Edward Abbey
We Are Kindred All Of Us, Killer And Victim, Predator And Prey, Me And The Sly Coyote, The Soaring Buzzard, The Elegant Gopher Snake, And Trembling Cottontail, The Foul Worms That Feed On Our Entrails; All Of Them, All Of Us. Long Live Diversity, Long Live The Earth!
Journey
Snakes
Hiking
Don't Talk To Me About Other Worlds, Separate Realities, Lost Continents Or Invisible Realms -- I Know Where I Belong. Heaven Is Home. Utopia Is Here. Nirvana Is Now.
Home
Reality
Other Worlds
God Bless America. Let's Try To Save Some Of It.
America
Trying
God Bless
Money Confers The Power To Command The Labor Of Others. Love Of Money Is Love Of Power. And Love Of Power Is The Root Of Evil.
Roots
Evil
And Love
We Spend More Time Working For Our Labor-saving Machines Than They Do Working For Us.
Machines
Saving
More Time
I Don't See How Poetry Can Ever Be Easy... Real Poetry, The Thick, Dense, Intense, Complicated Stuff That Lives And Endures, Requires Blood Sweat; Blood And Sweat Are Essential Elements In Poetry As Well As Behind It.
Real
Blood
Sweat
My Aunt Ida At Age Eighty-three: 'yeah,' She Said, 'i'll Be Dead Pretty Soon. And Frankly, I Don't Give A Damn.'
Aunt
Giving
Age
If You're Never Ridden A Fast Horse At A Dead Run Across A Desert Valley At Dawn, Be Of Good Cheer: You've Only Missed Out On One Half Of Life.
Running
Horse
Cheer
And If The Computer Gives You Any Back Talk, Pour Some Well-sugared Office Coffee Into Its Evil Little Silicon Brain.
Coffee
Evil
Giving
Yes, There Are Plenty Of Heroes And Heroines Everywhere You Look. They Are Not Famous People. They Are Generally Obscure And Modest People Doing Useful Work, Keeping Their Families Together And Taking An Active Part In The Health Of Their Communities, Opposing What Is Evil (in One Way Or Another) And Defending What Is Good. Heroes Do Not Want Power Over Others.
Hero
People
Evil
A Shelf Of Classics For Our Young Adults: Tolkien, Hesse, Casteneda, Kerouac, Salinger, Tom Robbins, And _the Last Whole Earth Catalog_.
Adults
Earth
Lasts
A Man Without Passion Would Be Like A Body Without A Soul. Or Even More Grotesque, Like A Soul Without A Body.
Passion
Men
Soul
A Good Writer Must Have More Than Vin Rosé In His Veins, Use More Than Chablis For Ink.
Rose
Ink
Use
The Author: An Imaginary Person Who Writes Real Books.
Real
Book
Writing
Most Academic Economists Know Nothing Of Economy. In Fact, They Know Little Of Anything.
Littles
Facts
Academic
Truth Is Always The Enemy Of Power. And Power The Enemy Of Truth.
Enemy
Truth Is
If There's Anyone Still Present Whom I've Failed To Insult . . . I Apologize.
Apologizing
Insult
I Apologize
Might Does Not Make Right But It Sure Makes What Is.
Doe
Might
Nobody Seems More Obsessed By Diet Than Our Antimaterialist, Otherworldly, New Age, Spiritual Types. But If The Material World Is Merely Illusion, An Honest Guru Should As Content With Budweiser And Bratwurst As With Raw Carrot Juice, Tofu, And Seaweed Slime.
Spiritual
Food
Cooking
Life Is Cruel? Compared To What?
Life Is
A Patriot Must Always Be Ready To Defend His Country Against His Government.
Inspirational
Country
Freedom
Love Flowers Best In Openness And Freedom.
Life
Flower
Flora And Fauna
Our “neoconservatives” Are Neither New Nor Conservative, But Old As Babylon And Evil As Hell.
Peace
War
Evil
Poetry -- Even Bad Poetry -- May Be Our Final Hope.
Finals
May
Everyone Should Learn A Manual Trade: It's Never Too Late To Become An Honest Person.
Too Late
Honest
Should
Why This Cult Of Wilderness?... Because We Like The Taste Of Freedom; Because We Like The Smell Of Danger.
Smell
Taste
Wilderness
The Only Thing Left Worth Saving Is Wilderness.
Saving
Wilderness
Left
Those Who Fear Death Most Are Those Who Enjoy Life Least.
Enjoy Life
Fear Of Death
Enjoy
In Marriage, The Occasional Catastrophic Crisis Is Easier To Manage Than The Daily Routine.
Routine
Easier
Occasional
Anarchy Works. Italy Has Proved It For A Thousand Years.
Years
Anarchy
Thousand
The World Is Older And Bigger Than We Are. This Is A Hard Truth For Some Folks To Swallow.
World
Bigger
Folks
Congress Is Always Willing To Appropriate Money For More And Bigger Paved Roads, Anywhere -- Particularly If They Form Loops.
Nature
Conservation
Form
The Love Of A Man For His Wife, His Child, Of The Land Where He Lives And Works, Is For Me The Real Meaning Of Mystical Experience.
Children
Real
Men
In All Of Nature, There Is No Sound More Pleasing Than That Of A Hungry Animal At Its Feed. Unless You Are The Food.
Animal
Sound
Hungry
Readers, Not Critics, Are The People Who Determine A Book's Eventual Fate.
Book
Fate
People
Somewhere In The Depths Of Solitude, Beyond Wilderness And Freedom, Lay The Trap Of Madness.
Solitude
Depth
Madness
If We Had The Power Of Ten Shakespeares Or A Dozen Mozarts, We Could Not Produce Anything Half So Marvelous As One Ordinary Human Child.
Children
Ordinary
Half
I Intend To Be Good For The Rest Of My Natural Life -- If I Live That Long.
Long
Natural
Be Good
Chastity Is More A State Of Mind Than Of Anatomy.
Mind
States
Chastity
Reply To Plato: I Seen Horses I Seen Cows I Haint Never Yet Seen Horsiness Nor That There Bovinity Neither.
Horse
Plato
Philosophy
The Purpose And Function Of Government Is Not To Preside Over Change But To Prevent Change. By Political Methods When Unavoidable, By Violence When Convenient.
Government
Political
Purpose
When The Situation Is Hopeless, There's Nothing To Worry About.
Worry
Hopeless
Situation
I Am An Enemy Of The State. But Isn't Everyone?
Enemy
States
A Journey Into The Wilderness Is The Freest, Cheapest, Most Nonprivileged Of Pleasures. Anyone With Two Legs And The Price Of A Pair Of Army Surplus Combat Boots May Enter.
Army
Journey
Two
Why Do I Write? I Write To Entertain My Friends And To Exasperate Our Enemies. To Unfold The Folded Lie, To Record To Truth Of Our Time, And, Of Course, To Promote Esthetic Bliss.
Lying
Writing
Enemy
The Dog's Life Is A Good Life, For A Dog.
Dog
Good Life
Life Is
Is The Archbishop's Blessing Any More Meaningful Than The Politician's Handshake? The Come, They Go, With Bigger Things Than Us On Their Minds.
Meaningful
Blessing
Mind
It Is True That Some Of My Fiction Was Based On Actual Events. But The Events Took Place After The Fiction Was Written.
Events
Fiction
Written
It Is Always Dishonest For A Reviewer To Review The Author Instead Of The Author's Book.
Book
Reviews
Reviewers
Roosters: The Cry Of The Male Chicken Is The Most Barbaric Yawp In All Of Nature.
Males
Roosters
Cry
Music Begins Where Words Leave Off. Music Expresses The Inexpressible. If There Is A Kingdom Of Heaven, It Lies In Music.
Lying
Heaven
Kingdoms
I Stand For What I Stand On.
One Thing More Dangerous Than Getting Between A Grizzly Sow And Her Cub Is Getting Between A Businessman And A Dollar Bill.
Dollar Bills
Dollars
Cubs
A Crowded Society Is A Restrictive Society; An Overcrowded Society Becomes An Authoritarian, Repressive And Murderous Society.
Crowded
I Once Sat On The Rim Of A Mesa Above The Rio Grande For Three Days And Nights, Trying To Have A Vision. I Got Hungry And Saw God In The Form Of A Beef Pie.
Night
Pie
Vision
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.
Mean
Leader
Example
This Is The Most Beautiful Place On Earth. There Are Many Such Places. Every Man, Every Woman, Carries In Heart And Mind The Image Of The Ideal Place, The Right Place, The One True Home, Known Or Unknown, Actual Or Visionary.
Beautiful
Nature
Travel
All We Have, It Seems To Me, Is The Beauty Of Art And Nature And Life, And The Love Which That Beauty Inspires.
Art
Inspire
Nature And Life
I Have Been Called A Curmudgeon, Which My Obsolescent Dictionary Defines As A "surly, Illmannered, Badtempered Fellow." ... Nowadays, Curmudgeon Is Likely To Refer To Anyone Who Hates Hypocrisy, Cant, Sham, Dogmatic Ideologies, The Pretenses And Evasions Of Euphemism, And Has The Nerve To Point Out Unpleasant Facts And Takes The Trouble To Impale These Sins On The Skewer Of Humor And Roast Them Over The Fires Of Empiric Fact, Common Sense, And Native Intelligence. In This Nation Of Bleating Sheep And Braying Jackasses, It Then Becomes An Honor To Be Labeled Curmudgeon.
Hate
Fire
Sheep
There's Another Disadvantage To The Use Of The Flashlight: Like Many Other Mechanical Gadgets It Tends To Separate A Man From The World Around Him. If I Switch It On My Eyes Adapt To It And I Can See Only The Small Pool Of Light It Makes In Front Of Me; I Am Isolated. Leaving The Flashlight In My Pocket Where It Belongs, I Remain A Part Of The Environment I Walk Through And My Vision Though Limited Has No Sharp Or Definite Boundary.
Eye
Men
Light
The Death Penalty Would Be Even More Effective, As A Deterrent, If We Executed A Few Innocent People More Often.
People
Would Be
Death Penalty
Industrial Tourism Is A Threat To The National Parks. But The Chief Victims Of The System Are The Motorized Tourists. They Are Being Robbed And Robbing Themselves. So Long As They Are Unwilling To Crawl Out Of Their Cars They Will Not Discover The Treasures Of The National Parks And Will Never Escape The Stress And Turmoil Of The Urban-suburban Complexes Which They Had Hoped, Presumably, To Leave Behind For A While.
Stress
Long
Car
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.
Gun
People
Natural
Government Should Be Weak, Amateurish And Ridiculous. At Present, It Fulfills Only A Third Of The Role.
Government
Liberty
Roles
High Technology Has Done Us One Great Service: It Has Retaught Us The Delight Of Performing Simple And Primordial Tasks - Chopping Wood, Building A Fire, Drawing Water From A Spring
Spring
Technology
Simple
If The World Is Irrational, We Can Never Know It -- Either It Or Its Irrationality.
World
Irrational
Knows
In Both Metaphysics And Art, Honesty Is The Best Policy. Keep It Clean.
Art
Honesty
Clean
All Governments Need Enemies. How Else To Justify Their Existence?
Government
Enemy
Needs
I’m Tired Of Doing What I Don’t Want To Do To Live The Way I Don’t Want To Live.
Tired
Want
Way
The Artist In Our Time Has Two Chief Responsibilities: (1) Art; And (2) Sedition.
Art
Responsibility
Two
Belief In The Supernatural Reflects A Failure Of The Imagination.
Dream
Atheist
Imagination
In Social Affairs, I'm An Optimist. I Really Do Believe That Our Military- Industrial Civilization Will Soon Collapse.
Military
Believe
Civilization
I Am Hopeful, Though Not Full Of Hope, And The Only Reason I Don't Believe In Happy Endings Is Because I Don't Believe In Endings.
Believe
Hopeful
Happy Endings
Most Of My Wandering In The Desert I've Done Alone. Not So Much From Choice As From Necessity - I Generally Prefer To Go Into Places Where No One Else Wants To Go. I Find That In Contemplating The Natural World My Pleasure Is Greater If There Are Not Too Many Others Contemplating It With Me, At The Same Time.
Choices
Desert
Done
Women: We Cannot Love Them All. But We Must Try.
Trying
The Nuclear Bomb Took All The Fun Out Of War.
Fun
War
Nuclear
Only A Fool Would Leave The Enjoyment Of Rainbows To The Opticians. Or Give The Science Of Optics The Last Word On The Matter.
Giving
Rainbow
Matter
Life Is Unfair. And It's Not Fair That Life Is Unfair.
Life Is
Unfair
Fairs
I've Never Yet Read A Review Of One Of My Own Books That I Couldn't Have Written Much Better Myself.
Book
Reviews
My Own
Jesus Don't Walk On Water No More; His Feet Leak.
Jesus
Feet
Water
Places: A Cold, Bleak, Lonely Day On The Rim At Muley Point, Utah. And The Heart-cracking Loveliness Of The Blood-smeared, Bitter, Incomprehensible Slaughterhouse Of A World.
Lonely
Heart
Blood
Sentiment Without Action Is The Ruin Of The Soul.
Inspiring
Peace
Diversity
When The Biggest, Richest, Glassiest Buildings In Town Are The Banks, You Know That Town's In Trouble.
Towns
Trouble
Building
In The Afternoon I Watch The Clouds Drift Past The Bald Peak Of Mount Tukuhnikivats. (someone Has To Do It.)
Past
Clouds
Watches
God Is A Sound People Make When They're Too Tired To Think Anymore.
Positive
Tired
Thinking
The Function Of An Ideal Is Not To Be Realized But, Like That Of The North Star, To Serve As A Guiding Point.
Stars
Function
North Star
Simplicity Is Always A Virtue.
Life
Simplicity
Virtue
Taxation: How The Sheep Are Shorn.
Sheep
Taxation
Taxes
The Domination Of Nature Leads To The Domination Of Human Nature.
Nature
Human Nature
Domination
Salome Had But Seven Veils; The Artist Has A Thousand.
Artist
Veils
Seven
What Is The Purpose Of The Giant Sequoia Tree? The Purpose Of The Giant Sequoia Tree Is To Provide Shade For The Tiny Titmouse.
Inspirational
Tree
Giants
The Result Of This Bestial Lust Is An Indiscriminate And Promiscuous Splaying Of All Of My Energies- Wanting All, I Accomplish Nothing; Desiring Everything, I Satisfy Nothing And Am Satisfied By Nothing.
Accomplish Nothing
Lust
Energy
I Want My Body To Help Fertilize The Growth Of A Cactus Or Cliff Rose Or Sagebrush Or Tree.
Rose
Tree
Growth
Married Couples Who Quarrel Bitterly Every Day May Really Need Each Other As Deeply As Those Who Appear To Be Desperately In Love.
Couple
Needs
May
All Living Things On Earth Are Kindred.
Earth
Kindred
Living Things
We're All Undesirable Elements From Somebody's Point Of View.
Views
Elements
Point Of View
Among Politicians And Businessmen, *pragmatism* Is The Current Term For 'to Hell With Our Children.'
Children
Future
Hell
The World Exists For Its Own Sake, Not For Ours. Swallow *that* Pill!
Pills
World
Sake
The Rich Can Buy Everything But Health, Virtue, Friendship, Wit, Good Looks, Love, Pride, Intelligence, Grace, And, If You Need It, Happiness.
Pride
Grace
Needs
Where All Think Alike There Is Little Danger Of Innovation.
Thinking
Thought Provoking
Innovation
Literature, Like Anything Else, Can Become A Wearisome Business If You Make A Lifetime Specialty Of It. A Healthy, Wholesome Man Would No More Spend His Entire Life Reading Great Books Than He Would Packing Cookies For Nabisco.
Life
Business
Book
The Absurd Vanity Of Metaphysicians Who Like To Imagine That They Create The World By Thinking About It.
Thinking
Vanity
World
Mozart, Striving For Perfection, Wrote The Same Symphony Forty-one Times. In His Case, It Worked. He Wrote A Perfect Symphony.
Symphony
Perfect
Strive
King Arthur And His Armored Goons Of The Round Table Functioned As The Politburo Of A Slave State: Camelot. Of All Who Have Written On The Matter Of Arthur, From Malory To White, Only Mark Twain Understood This. But Mark Twain Was A Great Writer.
Kings
White
Tables
America My Country: Last Nation On Earth To Abolish Human Slavery; First Of All Nations To Drop The Nuclear Bomb On Our Fellow Human Beings.
Country
America
Slavery
That Which Today Calls Itself Science Gives Us More And More Information, And Indigestible Glut Of Information, And Less And Less Understanding.
Giving
Decision
Understanding
I'm A Fastidious Sort Of Fellow, Fond Of Watermelon And Buckbrush Nuts.
Nuts
Fastidious
Fellows
Grown Men Do Not Need Leaders.
Leadership
Maturity
Men
I Am Delighted, One More Time, By The Daring Of My Species And The Audacity Of Our Flying Machines. There Is Poetry And Music In Our Technology, A Beauty As Touching As That Of Eagle, Moss Campion, Raven Or Yonder Limestone Boulder Shining Under The Arctic Sun.
Technology
Eagles
Ravens
I Must Confess That I Know Nothing Whatsoever About True Underlying Reality, Never Having Met Any.
Reality
Mets
Knows
Belief? What Do I Believe In? I Believe In Sun. In Rock. In The Dogma Of The Sun And The Doctrine Of The Rock. I Believe In Blood, Fire, Woman, Rivers, Eagles, Storm, Drums, Flutes, Banjos, And Broom-tailed Horses.
Religious
Horse
Crazy
Industrialism, Whether Of The Capitalist Or Socialist Coloration, Is The Basic Tyrant Of The Modern Age.
Tyrants
Age
Modern
The Canyon Country Does Not Always Inspire Love. To Many It Appears Barren, Hostile, Repellent - A Fearsome Mostly Waterless Land Of Rock And Heat, Sand Dunes And Quicksand, Cactus, Thornbrush, Scorpion, Rattlesnake, And Agaraphobic Distances. To Those Who See Our Land In That Manner, The Best Reply Is, Yes, You Are Right, It Is A Dangerous And Terrible Place. Enter At Your Own Risk. Carry Water. Avoid The Noonday Sun. Try To Ignore The Vultures. Pray Frequently.
Country
Distance
Land
There's Nothing So Obscene And Depressing As An American Christmas.
Depressing
Obscene
Baseball Serves As A Good Model For Democracy In Action: Every Player Is Equally Important And Each Has A Chance To Be A Hero.
Baseball
Hero
Player
If People Persist In Trespassing Upon The Grizzlies' Territory, We Must Accept The Fact That The Grizzlies, From Time To Time, Will Harvest A Few Trespassers.
People
Territory
Facts
Reason Has Seldom Failed Us Because It Has Seldom Been Tried.
Reason
Desire, Said The Buddha, Is The Cause Of Suffering. But Without Desire, What Delight?
Suffering
Desire
Delight
Heaven Is Home. Utopia Is Here. Nirvana Is Now.
Home
Heaven
Utopia
Anarchism Is Founded On The Observation That Since Few Men Are Wise Enough To Rule Themselves, Even Fewer Are Wise Enough To Rule Others.
Wise
Wisdom
Men
The Best Thing About Graduating From The University Was That I Finally Had Time To Sit On A Log And Read A Good Book.
Book
Graduates
Best Things
It May Be True That My Desk Here Is Really 'nothing But' A Transient Eddy Of Electrons In The Flux Of Universal Process. Nevertheless, I Find That It Continues To Support My Feet, My Revolver, And My Cigars All Day Long. What Happens When My Back Is Turned I Don't Know. Or Much Care. That's No Concern Of Mine.
Feet
Long
Support
Come With Me, The River Said, Close Your Eyes And Quiet Your Limbs And Float With Me Into The Wonder And Mystery Of The Canyons, See The Unknown And The Little Known, Look Upon The Stone Gods Face To Face, See Medusa, Drink My Waters, Hear My Song, Feel My Power, Come Along And Drift With Me Toward The Distant, Ultimate And Legendary Sea.
Song
Eye
Sea
The Writer Concerned More With Technique Than Truth Becomes A Technician, Not An Artist.
Artist
Technique
Truth Is
The Ideal Society Can Be Described, Quite Simply, As That In Which No Man Has The Power Of Means To Coerce Others.
Mean
Men
Ideal Society
Humility Is A Virtue When You Have No Other.
Humility
Virtue
To Be Alive Is To Take Risks; To Be Always Safe And Secure Is Death.
Risk
Alive
Safe
I Have Found Through Trial And Error That I Work Best Under Duress. In Fact I Work Only Under Duress.
Errors
Trial And Error
Trials
Suicide: Don't Knock It If You Ain't Tried It.
Suicide
Ifs
The Real Work Of Men Was Hunting Meat. The Invention Of Agriculture Was A Giant Step In The Wrong Direction, Leading To Serfdom, Cities, And Empire. From A Race Of Hunters, Artists, Warriors, And Tamers Of Horses, We Degraded Ourselves To What We Are Now: Clerks, Functionaries, Laborers, Entertainers, Processors Of Information.
Horse
Real
Warrior
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.
Turkeys
Envy
Littles
Christian Theology: Nothing So Grotesque Could Possibly Be True.
Christian
Grotesque
Being True
I Have Written Much About Many Good Places. But The Best Places Of All, I Have Never Mentioned.
Best Place
Written
Good Place
Jane Austen: Getting Into Her Books Is Like Getting In Bed With A Cadaver. Something Vital Is Lacking; Namely, Life.
Book
Bed
Cadavers
By The Age Of Eighteen, A Human Has Acquired Enough Joy And Heartache To Provide The Food Of Reflection For A Century.
Reflection
Heartache
Joy
What Draws Us Into The Desert Is The Search For Something Intimate In The Remote.
Desert
Intimate
Draws
It Is An Author's Most Solemn Obligation To Honor Truth. If The Free And Independent Writer Does Not Speak Truth To Power, Who Will?
Independent
Honor
Doe
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.
Philosophy
Buddhism
Common Sense
Passion, Sexual Passion, May Lead To Marriage, But Cannot Sustain Marriage. The Purpose Of Marriage Is The Raising Of Children, For Which Patience, Not Passion, Is The Necessary Foundation.
Children
Passion
Foundation
As Between The Skulking And Furtive Poacher, Who Hunts For The Sake Of Meat, And The Honest Gentleman Shooter, Who Kills For The Pleasure Of Sport, I Find The Former A Higher Type Of Humanity.
Sports
Humanity
Gentleman
Of Course I Litter The Public Highway. Every Chance I Get. After All, It's Not The Beer Cans That Are Ugly; It's The Highway That Is Ugly.
Beer
Ugly
Chance
God Is Love? Not Bloody Likely.
God Is Love
Bloody
Anarchism Is Not A Romantic Fable But The Hardheaded Realization, Based On Five Thousand Years Of Experience, That We Cannot Entrust The Management Of Our Lives To Kings, Priests, Politicians, Generals, And County Commissioners.
Kings
Years
Realization
Despair Leads To Boredom, Electronic Games, Computer Hacking, Poetry And Other Bad Habits.
Games
Boredom
Despair
I Now Find The Most Marvelous Things In The Everyday, The Ordinary, The Common, The Simple And Tangible.
Simple
Everyday
Ordinary
Every Important Change In Our Society, For The Good, At Least, Has Taken Place Because Of Popular Pressure-pressure From Below, From The Great Mass Of People.
Taken
People
Important
A Woman, As Much As A Man, Is Responsible By The Age Of Forty For The Character Of Her Face. But Women, Obeying The Biological Imperative, Strive Harder To Preserve A Youthful Appearance (the Reproductive Look) And Lose It Sooner.
Character
Men
Age
Nothing Can Excel A Few Days In Jail For Giving A Young Man Or Woman A Quick Education In The Basis Of Industrial Society.
Men
Jail
Giving
A Rancher Is A Farmer Who Farms The Public Lands With A Herd Of Four-legged Lawn Mowers.
Land
Four
Herds
Susan Sontag: What She Really Wanted, Throughout Her Career, Was To Grow Up To Be A Frenchman.
Growing Up
Careers
Grows
Without Courage, All Other Virtues Are Useless.
Useless
Virtue
Morose
I Hate Intellectual Discussion. When I Hear The Words 'phenomenology' Or 'structuralism', I Reach For My Buck Knife.
Hate
Philosophy
School
Democracy -- Rule By The People -- Sounds Like A Fine Thing; We Should Try It Sometime In America.
America
People
Democracy
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?
Rivers
Lakes
Sea
What Did Jesus Say To The Headwaiter At The Last Supper? 'separate Checks, Please.'
Jesus
Lasts
Checks
One Of The Pleasant Things About Small Town Life Is That Everyone, Whether Rich Or Poor, Liked Or Disliked, Has Some Kind Of A Role And Place In The Community. I Never Felt That Living In A City - As I Once Did For A Couple Of Years.
Couple
Years
Cities
You Long For Success? Start At The Bottom; Dig Down.
Long
Bottom
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.
Deep Understanding
Demand
Stones
Why I Oppose The Nuclear-arms Race: I Prefer The Human Race.
Race
Nuclear
Arms
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.
Confused
Years
America
The Idea Of Wilderness Needs No Defense. It Only Needs More Defenders. Remaining Silent About The Destruction Of Nature Is An Endorsement Of That Destruction.
Ideas
Needs
Defense
Women Who Love Only Women May Have A Good Point.
May
I Find More And More, As I Grow Older, That I Prefer Women To Men, Children To Adults, Animals To Humans.... And Rocks To Living Things? No, I'm Not That Old Yet.
Children
Animal
Men
Man's Deliberate Destruction Of His Own Habitat -- Planet Earth -- Could Serve As A Mighty Theme For A Mighty Book Worthy Of A Modern Melville Or Tolstoy. But Our Best Fictioneers Confine Themselves To Domestic Drama -- Soap Opera With Literary Trimmings.
Drama
Book
Men
Metaphysics Is A Cobweb That The Mind Weaves Around Things.
Mind
Cobwebs
Metaphysics
Let The People Walk. Or Ride Horses, Bicycles, Mules, Wild Pigs-anything-but Keep The Automobiles And The Motorcycles And All Their Motorized Relatives Out. We Have Agreed Not To Drive Our Automobiles Into Cathedrals, Concert Halls, Art Museums, Legislative Assemblies, Private Bedrooms And Other Sanctums Of Our Culture; We Should Treat Our National Parks With The Same Deference, For They, Too, Are Holy Places.
Horse
Art
Museums
Our Suicidal Poets (plath, Berryman, Lowell, Jarrell, Et Al.) Spent Too Much Of Their Lives Inside Rooms And Classrooms When They Should Have Been Trudging Up Mountains, Slogging Through Swamps, Rowing Down Rivers. The Indoor Life Is The Next Best Thing To Premature Burial.
Suicidal
Journey
Should Have
I'd Sooner Exchange Ideas With The Birds On Earth Than Learn To Carry On Intergalactic Communications With Some Obscure Race Of Humanoids On A Satellite Planet From The World Of Betelgeuse.
Communication
Race
Ideas
Has Joy Any Survival Value In The Operations Of Evolution? I Suspect That It Does; I Suspect That The Morose And Fearful Are Doomed To Quick Extinction. Where There Is No Joy There Can Be No Courage; And Without Courage All Other Virtues Are Useless.
Joy
Survival
Doe
Why Must Love Always Be Accompanied--sooner Or Later--by Sorrow And Pain? Why Not? Because Pure Bliss Is For Pure Idiots.
Pain
Sorrow
Why Not
Better A Cruel Truth Than A Comfortable Delusion.
Truth
Delusion
Comfortable
Paradise Is The Here And Now, The Actual, Tangible, Dogmatically Real Earth On Which We Stand. Yes, God Bless America, The Earth Upon Which We Stand.
Real
Journey
Hiking
My Own Best Books Have Not Been Published. In Fact, They've Not Even Been Written Yet.
Book
Facts
My Own
Saving The World Is Only A Hobby. Most Of The Time I Do Nothing.
Favorite Hobby
Hobbies
World
We Are Slaves In The Sense That We Depend For Our Daily Survival Upon An Expand-or-expire Agro-industrial Empire—a Crackpot Machine—that The Specialists Cannot Comprehend And The Managers Cannot Manage. Which Is, Furthermore, Devouring World Resources At An Exponential Rate. We Are, Most Of Us, Dependent Employees. …edward Abbey (1927-1989)
Survival
Machines
World
A World Without Open Country Would Be Universal Jail.
Country
Jail
Would Be
The Most Common Form Of Terrorism In The U.s.a. Is That Carried On By Bulldozers And Chain Saws.
Saws
Common
Terrorism
An Economic System Which Can Only Expand Or Expire Must Be False To All That Is Human.
Philosophy
Political
Growth
The Sneakiest Form Of Literary Subtlety, In A Corrupt Society, Is To Speak The Plain Truth. The Critics Will Not Understand You; The Public Will Not Believe You; Your Fellow Writers Will Shake Their Heads. Laughter, Praise, Honors, Money, And The Love Of Beautiful Girls Will Be Your Only Reward.
Beautiful
Girl
Laughter
One Day In Dipstick, Nebraska, Or Landfill, Oklahoma, Is Worth More To Me Than An Eternity In Dante's Plastic Paradiso, Or Yeats's Gold-plated Byzantium.
Byzantium
Oklahoma
One Day
Man Was Created To Complete The Horse.
Horse
Men
The Rifle And Handgun Are 'equalizers' -- The Weapons Of A Democracy. Tanks And Bombers Represent Dictatorship.
Democracy
Tanks
Rifles
I Despise My Own Nation Most. Because I Know It Best. Because I Still Love It, Suffering From Hope. For Me, That's Patrotism.
Suffering
Despise
Stills
Girls, Like Flowers, Bloom But Once. But Once Is Enough.
Girl
Flower
Enough
‎"if My Decomposing Carcass Helps Nourish The Roots Of A Juniper Tree Or The Wings Of A Vulture--that Is Immortality Enough For Me. And As Much As Anyone Deserves." E.abbey
Nature
Wings
Roots
Preacher To Me: 'a Dollar For The Lord, Brother?' Me To Preacher: 'that's All Right, I'm Headed His Way. I'll Give It To Him When I See Him.'
Brother
Giving
Dollars
The Ready Availability Of Suicide, Like Sex And Alcohol, Is One Of Life's Basic Consolations.
Suicide
Sex
Availability
There Comes A Time In The Life Of Us All When We Must Lay Aside Our Books Or Put Down Our Tools And Leave Our Place Of Work And Walk Forth On The Road To Meet The Enemy Face-to-face. Once And For All And At Last
Book
Enemy
Tools
There Is A Deep, Abiding, Unshakable Satisfaction In A Life Of Complete Failure.
Abiding
Satisfaction
Unshakable
It Seems Clear At Last That Our Love For The Natural World-nature-is The Only Means By Which We Can Requite God's Obvious Love For It.
Mean
Environmental
World
There Are Two Kinds Of People I Cannot Abide: Bigots And Any Well-organized Ethnic Group.
Two
People
Groups
Style: There Is Something In Too Much Verbal Felicity (as In Joyce Or Nabokov Or Borges) That Can Betray The Writer Into Technique For The Sake Of Technique.
Style
Technique
Sake
It Is Not Enough To Understand The Natural World; The Point Is To Defend And Preserve It.
Nature
World
Enough
Original Sin, The True Original Sin, Is The Blind Destruction For The Sake Of Greed Of This Natural Paradise Which Lies All Around Us-if Only We Were Worthy Of It.
Lying
Greed
Paradise
Filling Out The Form: Race? Human. Religion? Paiute. Occupation? Criminal Anarchy. Hobbies? Survival With Honor.
Race
Survival
Honor
A Man Could Be A Lover And Defender Of The Wilderness Without Ever In His Lifetime Leaving The Boundaries Of Asphalt, Powerlines, And Right-angled Surfaces. We Need Wilderness Whether Or Not We Ever Set Foot In It. We Need A Refuge Even Though We May Never Need To Set Foot In It. We Need The Possibility Of Escape As Surely As We Need Hope; Without It The Life Of The Cities Would Drive All Men Into Crime Or Drugs Or Psychoanalysis.
Men
Cities
Feet
At Some Point We Must Draw A Line Across The Ground Of Our Home And Our Being, Drive A Spear Into The Land And Say To The Bulldozers, Earthmovers, Government And Corporations, "thus Far And No Further." If We Do Not, We Shall Later Feel, Instead Of Pride, The Regret Of Thoreau, That Good But Overly-bookish Man, Who Wrote, Near The End Of His Life, "if I Repent Of Anything It Is Likely To Be My Good Behaviour.
Regret
Home
Pride
Books Are Like Eggs -- Best When Fresh.
Book
Eggs
Our Modern Industrial Economy Takes A Mountain Covered With Trees, Lakes, Running Streams And Transforms It Into A Mountain Of Junk, Garbage, Slime Pits, And Debris.
Running
Lakes
Tree
What We Need Now Are Heroes And Heroines, About A Million Of Them, One Brave Deed Is Worth A Thousand Books. Sentiment Without Action Is The Ruin Of The Soul.
Book
Hero
Brave
Trending Author
Joan Of Arc
Rita Coolidge
Terry Gross
Nicholas Hoult
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Karen Kingsbury
Category
Information