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A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
Finished two weeks before his death, and published posthumously, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness is a collection of aphorisms and common-sense wisdom filled with sarcastic, witty, and inspirational thoughts on the things Edward Abbey loved most, especially nature and freedom.Abbey chose each passage himself from his own journals as well as from his previous writings. In his own words, some of the notes “may be unconscious plagiarisms from the great and dead (never steal from the living and mediocre).”In Abbey’s own style—sometimes curmudgeonly, sometimes sarcastic, and often witty—he talks about nearly everything including politics, writing, sex, and sports. But as an uncompromising environmentalist, Abbey shines when talking about nature and the environment.Abbey’s last wish was to be buried in an unmarked grave somewhere out in the vast desert he loved so much. A Voice Crying in the Wilderness is an enduring signal from that desert, through the words of one of the singular American thinkers of our times.About the AuthorEdward Abbey was born in Home, Pennsylvania in 1927. In 1944, at the age of 17, Abbey set out to explore the American Southwest, bumming around the country by hitchhiking and hopping freight trains. It was during this time that Abbey developed a love of the desert, which would shape his life and his art for the next forty years. After a brief stint in the military, Abbey completed his education at the University of New Mexico and later, at the University of Edinburgh. He took employment as a park ranger and fire lookout at several different National Parks throughout his life, experiences from which he drew for his many books. Abbey died at his home in Oracle, Arizona in 1989.
121 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 1989
50 people are currently reading
435 people want to read
About the author
Edward Abbey
76 books2,046 followersEdward Paul Abbey (1927–1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views.
Abbey attended college in New Mexico and then worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service in the Southwest. It was during this time that he developed the relationship with the area’s environment that influenced his writing. During his service, he was in close proximity to the ruins of ancient Native American cultures and saw the expansion and destruction of modern civilization.
His love for nature and extreme distrust of the industrial world influenced much of his work and helped garner a cult following.
Abbey died on March 14, 1989, due to complications from surgery. He was buried as he had requested: in a sleeping bag—no embalming fluid, no casket. His body was secretly interred in an unmarked grave in southern Arizona.
Abbey attended college in New Mexico and then worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service in the Southwest. It was during this time that he developed the relationship with the area’s environment that influenced his writing. During his service, he was in close proximity to the ruins of ancient Native American cultures and saw the expansion and destruction of modern civilization.
His love for nature and extreme distrust of the industrial world influenced much of his work and helped garner a cult following.
Abbey died on March 14, 1989, due to complications from surgery. He was buried as he had requested: in a sleeping bag—no embalming fluid, no casket. His body was secretly interred in an unmarked grave in southern Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 6, 2019
I love Edward Abbey. Desert Solitaire changed my life. I still remember where I was when I read specific scenes of The Monkey Wrench Gang for the first time. He challenges me and inspires me.
This book would be better titled, "Back for More Cash." It is a lazy collection of one-liners that does nothing to further any conversations, nor enlighten. Abbey would probably be delighted at me calling it divisive, but it accomplishes so little beyond name-calling that it is a no substitute for rereading the better works of Abbey.
Go back to the Fat Masterpiece, and leave this one alone.
This book would be better titled, "Back for More Cash." It is a lazy collection of one-liners that does nothing to further any conversations, nor enlighten. Abbey would probably be delighted at me calling it divisive, but it accomplishes so little beyond name-calling that it is a no substitute for rereading the better works of Abbey.
Go back to the Fat Masterpiece, and leave this one alone.
December 3, 2019
Some of this is insightful, some of it seems ahead of its time, but most of it hasn't aged well. It's funny because one of the things Abbey talks about is reading books when they are new because most books don't age well.
November 25, 2007
one of the most ingenious, discerning, singular american thinkers of the twentieth century. simply brilliant...
"i hate intellectual discussion. when i hear the words phenomenology or structuralism, i reach for my buck knife."
"belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination."
"better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
"there has got to be a god; the world could not have become so fucked up by chance alone."
"is there a god? who knows? is there an angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon?'
"society is like a stew. if you don't keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on the top."
"the distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny."
"i know my own nation the best. that's why i despise it the most. and know and love my own people, too, the swine. i'm a patriot. a dangerous man."
"our 'neoconservatives' are neither new nor conservative, but old as babylon and evil as hell."
"power is always dangerous. power attracts the worst and corrupts the best."
"if america could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. neither to serve nor to rule: that was the american dream."
"terrorism: deadly violence against humans and other living things, usually conducted by government against its own people."
"sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul. one brave deed is worth a thousand books."
"life is cruel? compared to what?"
"those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."
"henry james: our finest lady novelist."
"god bless america. let's save some of it."
"there is no force more potent in the modern world than stupidity fueled by greed."
"i would never betray a friend to serve a cause. never reject a friend to help an institution. great nations may fall in ruin before i would sell a friend to save them."
"we should restore the practice of dueling. it might improve manners around here."
"anywhere, anytime, i'd sacrifice the finest nuance for a laugh, the most elegant trope for a smile."
"i hate intellectual discussion. when i hear the words phenomenology or structuralism, i reach for my buck knife."
"belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination."
"better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
"there has got to be a god; the world could not have become so fucked up by chance alone."
"is there a god? who knows? is there an angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon?'
"society is like a stew. if you don't keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on the top."
"the distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny."
"i know my own nation the best. that's why i despise it the most. and know and love my own people, too, the swine. i'm a patriot. a dangerous man."
"our 'neoconservatives' are neither new nor conservative, but old as babylon and evil as hell."
"power is always dangerous. power attracts the worst and corrupts the best."
"if america could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. neither to serve nor to rule: that was the american dream."
"terrorism: deadly violence against humans and other living things, usually conducted by government against its own people."
"sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul. one brave deed is worth a thousand books."
"life is cruel? compared to what?"
"those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."
"henry james: our finest lady novelist."
"god bless america. let's save some of it."
"there is no force more potent in the modern world than stupidity fueled by greed."
"i would never betray a friend to serve a cause. never reject a friend to help an institution. great nations may fall in ruin before i would sell a friend to save them."
"we should restore the practice of dueling. it might improve manners around here."
"anywhere, anytime, i'd sacrifice the finest nuance for a laugh, the most elegant trope for a smile."
July 31, 2024
“To the intelligent man, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question”
I’m a slut for Edward Abby
I’m a slut for Edward Abby
June 3, 2011
I've never read another book by Edward Abbey and I'm not in a big hurry to go find more to read, but I do enjoy his frank opinions and ideas :-) I found this at the library looking for something easy to read, light and amusing. I really liked some of Abbey's thoughts and others were blah to me. This volume was sent to the publisher just two weeks before the author died in 1989.
Below are some thoughts that stood out to me-
Chapter 1:Philosophy, Religion, and So Forth
"The more fantastic an ideology or theology, the more fanatic its adherents."
"The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages - as if the savages weren't dangerous enough already."
"When I hear the world culture, I reach for my checkbook."
"What's the difference between the Lone Ranger and God? There really is a Lone Ranger."
"Proverbs save us the trouble of thinking. What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity."
"In my case, saving the world was only a hobby."
"Mormonism: Nothing so hilarious could possibly be true. Or all bad."
"My cousin Elroy spend seven years as an IBM taper staring at THINK signs on the walls before he finally got a good idea: He quit."
"God is Love? Not bloody likely."
"I always write with my .357 magnum handy. Why? Well, you never know when God may try to interfere."
"Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
Chapter 2: Good Manners
"There is nothing so obscene and depressing as an American Christmas."
Chapter 3: Government and Politics
"Democracy - rule by the people - sounds like a fine thing; we should try it sometime in America."
"The ideal society can be described, quite simply, as that in which no man has the power or means to coerce others."
"The best cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy."
"War: First day in the U.S. Army, the government placed a Bible in my left hand, a bayonet in the other."
"Taxation: how the sheep are shorn."
"The more corrupt a society, the more numerous its laws."
"Freedom begins between the ears."
"J. Edgar Hoover, J. Bracken Lee, J. Parnell Thomas, J. Paul Getty - you can always tell a shithead by that initial initial."
Chapter 4: Life and Death and All That
"When the situation is hopeless, there's nothing to worry about."
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
"Beauty is only skin deep; ugliness goes all the way through."
"Longevity, like intelligence and good looks and health and strength of character, is largely a matter of genetic heritage. Choose your parents with care."
"Life is cruel? Compared to what?"
"Beware of your wishes: They will probably come true."
"Life is unfair. And it's not fair that life is unfair."
"If you feel that you're not ready to die, never fear; nature will give you complete and adequate assistance when the time comes."
"Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."
"To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question."
Chapter 5: On Writing and Writers, Books and Art
"There is a kind of poetry in simple fact."
"I've never yet read a review of one of my own books that I couldn't have written much better myself."
"'The mind is everything,' wrote Proust. No doubt true, when you're dead from the neck down."
"Most of the literary classics are worth reading, if you've nothing better to do."
"Jane Austen: Getting into her books is like getting in bed with a cadaver. Something vital is lacking; namely, life."
Chapter 6: Sport
"Football is a game for trained apes. That, in fact, is what most of the players are - retarded gorillas wearing helmets and uniforms. The only thing more debased is the surrounding mob of drunken monkeys howling the gorillas on."
Chapter 11: Money, Et Cetera
"Phoenix, Arizona: an oasis of ugliness in the midst of a beautiful wasteland."
"The rich are not very nice. That's why they're rich."
Chapter 12: On Cows and Dogs and Horses
"A landscape, like a man or woman, acquires character through time and endurance."
Chapter 13: Places
"New Yorkers like to boast that if you can survive in New York, you can survive anywhere. But if you can survive anywhere, why live in New York?
Below are some thoughts that stood out to me-
Chapter 1:Philosophy, Religion, and So Forth
"The more fantastic an ideology or theology, the more fanatic its adherents."
"The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages - as if the savages weren't dangerous enough already."
"When I hear the world culture, I reach for my checkbook."
"What's the difference between the Lone Ranger and God? There really is a Lone Ranger."
"Proverbs save us the trouble of thinking. What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity."
"In my case, saving the world was only a hobby."
"Mormonism: Nothing so hilarious could possibly be true. Or all bad."
"My cousin Elroy spend seven years as an IBM taper staring at THINK signs on the walls before he finally got a good idea: He quit."
"God is Love? Not bloody likely."
"I always write with my .357 magnum handy. Why? Well, you never know when God may try to interfere."
"Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
Chapter 2: Good Manners
"There is nothing so obscene and depressing as an American Christmas."
Chapter 3: Government and Politics
"Democracy - rule by the people - sounds like a fine thing; we should try it sometime in America."
"The ideal society can be described, quite simply, as that in which no man has the power or means to coerce others."
"The best cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy."
"War: First day in the U.S. Army, the government placed a Bible in my left hand, a bayonet in the other."
"Taxation: how the sheep are shorn."
"The more corrupt a society, the more numerous its laws."
"Freedom begins between the ears."
"J. Edgar Hoover, J. Bracken Lee, J. Parnell Thomas, J. Paul Getty - you can always tell a shithead by that initial initial."
Chapter 4: Life and Death and All That
"When the situation is hopeless, there's nothing to worry about."
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
"Beauty is only skin deep; ugliness goes all the way through."
"Longevity, like intelligence and good looks and health and strength of character, is largely a matter of genetic heritage. Choose your parents with care."
"Life is cruel? Compared to what?"
"Beware of your wishes: They will probably come true."
"Life is unfair. And it's not fair that life is unfair."
"If you feel that you're not ready to die, never fear; nature will give you complete and adequate assistance when the time comes."
"Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."
"To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question."
Chapter 5: On Writing and Writers, Books and Art
"There is a kind of poetry in simple fact."
"I've never yet read a review of one of my own books that I couldn't have written much better myself."
"'The mind is everything,' wrote Proust. No doubt true, when you're dead from the neck down."
"Most of the literary classics are worth reading, if you've nothing better to do."
"Jane Austen: Getting into her books is like getting in bed with a cadaver. Something vital is lacking; namely, life."
Chapter 6: Sport
"Football is a game for trained apes. That, in fact, is what most of the players are - retarded gorillas wearing helmets and uniforms. The only thing more debased is the surrounding mob of drunken monkeys howling the gorillas on."
Chapter 11: Money, Et Cetera
"Phoenix, Arizona: an oasis of ugliness in the midst of a beautiful wasteland."
"The rich are not very nice. That's why they're rich."
Chapter 12: On Cows and Dogs and Horses
"A landscape, like a man or woman, acquires character through time and endurance."
Chapter 13: Places
"New Yorkers like to boast that if you can survive in New York, you can survive anywhere. But if you can survive anywhere, why live in New York?
November 11, 2016
This was my first dive into the famed militant environmentalist Edward Abbey. And I'm not sure I'd recommend it (at least not as an opening act).
A Voice Crying In the Wilderness is a collection of phrases jotted down by Abbey in a journal. Therefore it is his unqualified, unfiltered, unadulterated thoughts. There are no nuances. There are no exceptions. I'll restate again that I've never read Abbey in my life, and I'm mildly scared to read him now. This collection, penned by his own hand, make him out to be a crotchety, cantankerous old man that loathes those who disagree with him.
I remain sympathetic to him however, because I appreciate the raw emotion that he puts on display along with the creative doodles that are included in this book.
I see Edward Abbey as the bitter, beat-up, boisterous Wendell Berry of the desert. I can't say I agreed with much that he said in the book, but at times I enjoyed his unbridled contemplations.
A Voice Crying In the Wilderness is a collection of phrases jotted down by Abbey in a journal. Therefore it is his unqualified, unfiltered, unadulterated thoughts. There are no nuances. There are no exceptions. I'll restate again that I've never read Abbey in my life, and I'm mildly scared to read him now. This collection, penned by his own hand, make him out to be a crotchety, cantankerous old man that loathes those who disagree with him.
I remain sympathetic to him however, because I appreciate the raw emotion that he puts on display along with the creative doodles that are included in this book.
I see Edward Abbey as the bitter, beat-up, boisterous Wendell Berry of the desert. I can't say I agreed with much that he said in the book, but at times I enjoyed his unbridled contemplations.
May 22, 2015
Amazingly prescient, Edward Abbey wrote this book just before he died (1989) but it's about precisely what is happening in our society, with our economy and politically, right now. I love his humor and his pithiness. Abbey wastes no words as he wasted no time on idiots, self-aggrandizers and the "important."
This small but powerful book is divided into sections like Nature, Life and Death and All That, Music, Money, and Government and Politics. And his words cut right through the meat and to the bone. What he wrote then applies now, more than ever.
This small but powerful book is divided into sections like Nature, Life and Death and All That, Music, Money, and Government and Politics. And his words cut right through the meat and to the bone. What he wrote then applies now, more than ever.
August 1, 2012
Utah's greatest Park Ranger...we don't even know where he's buried, in that great, vast oasis of space. Great quotes...my favorite is, "Whenever I hear the word culture I reach for my checkbook." Don't mis-understand him...read at your own peril and glean a perceptive fella without pretensions...oddly he was a mixture of St. Andrew's, redneck proclivities and much needed common sense wisdom.
January 23, 2008
Little quotes from books, journals, and who knows where else because it doesn't really say. Some are funny and some are just plain good but not a lot that are crude. If you like Edward Abbey than you'll really like this little book.
May 31, 2008
This is the last Abbey I read. I think, maybe, the last he wrote. Can't remember. A compilation of shorts that are, each and every one, a treasure. I love the writer who can put it down clearly, and in short while still being at the top of his/her entertainment game.
March 5, 2008
I adore Ed Abbey, and this is nice because it's just pithy little quotes pulled from his books and organized by topic.
April 1, 2013
Quotes drawn from Ed's journals and writing.
August 5, 2013
A collection of great stories. Vox Clamantis on Deserto!
January 26, 2023
A collection of musings Edward Abbey kept in his journals. Here are a few that stood out to me:
Society is like a stew. If you don’t keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on top.
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.
The writer speaks not to his audience (who wants to listen to lectures?) but for them, expressing their thoughts and emotions through the imaginative power of his art.
Vladimir Nabokov was a writer who cared nothing for music and whose favorite sport was the pursuit, capture, and murder of butterflies. This explains many things; for example, the fact that Nabokov’s novels, for all their elegance and wit, resemble nothing so much as butterflies pinned to a board: pretty but dead; symmetrical but stiff.
Society is like a stew. If you don’t keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on top.
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.
The writer speaks not to his audience (who wants to listen to lectures?) but for them, expressing their thoughts and emotions through the imaginative power of his art.
Vladimir Nabokov was a writer who cared nothing for music and whose favorite sport was the pursuit, capture, and murder of butterflies. This explains many things; for example, the fact that Nabokov’s novels, for all their elegance and wit, resemble nothing so much as butterflies pinned to a board: pretty but dead; symmetrical but stiff.
May 14, 2025
I have always enjoyed distilled works of philosophy like Edward Abbey's A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto): Notes from a Secret Journal. There were Albert Camus's Notebooks and Markings by Dag Hammarskjold. Now Abbey comes out with a uniquely American twist. I have always liked his work, and I have usually trusted his instincts (though probably not his membership in the National Rifle Assoiciation).
This is a book that can be easily devoured in a couple of hours, but it contains thoughts that can affect you for a lifetime.
This is a book that can be easily devoured in a couple of hours, but it contains thoughts that can affect you for a lifetime.
January 21, 2025
Desert Solitaire is one of my most favorite books of all time, so I was excited to read Abbey’s last book. It’s essentially a collection of proverbs or “bumper sticker slogans”, but they lack wisdom, wit or even basic reason. It’s like listening to an old uncle’s sexist/racist, caustic diatribe and then deciding to publish it for everyone to read. He had a few good one-liners about the desert and environmentalism (the only subject he had any authority on speaking about) but they were few and far between.
July 28, 2024
I enjoy Edward Abbey. However, this book is just pithy 2 sentence thoughts from his journals covering his 2¢ on a number of topics. He was a raging libertarian, and thus I disagree with as many of his hot takes as I agree with.
I’d say this book is likely a waste of time, but at least it’s very short and sometimes funny.
I’d say this book is likely a waste of time, but at least it’s very short and sometimes funny.
December 17, 2020
This is something that everyone should read, even if you have never read anything which Abbey wrote. It's more serious than Hayduke, obviously, and yet everything in this work that Abbey wrote about and warned us about has come true.
October 5, 2022
It was a fine read. Plenty of fun aphorisms. I find that I disagree with Abbey more as I’ve aged but overall I still enjoyed this read. Much of the book still held Abbey’s fierce love for the environment but some of it just seemed like random anger pointed at unrelated things.
June 12, 2017
Excellent. While not a linear narrative, still enjoyable, full of Cactus Ed's wit, humor and wisdom, and expressing at least some of what we all think.
March 11, 2021
No wonder this was in one of those little frontyard libraries.
August 19, 2021
Small collection of random thoughts. A book for the bathroom perhaps.
February 15, 2022
“Be it ever so vile, there’s no place like home”
July 7, 2022
Filled with quotes from the author, the book includes his take on the world. He was a little negative for my tastes, personally, but there were some gems included.
June 28, 2025
Some good. Mostly dated. Predictably bro-dude. Anti-science. Def bunker-end-of-world energy.
June 30, 2025
If you like Ed Abbey you will like this collection of sayings.
July 10, 2014
"Whatever we cannot easily understand we call God; this saves much wear and tear on the brain tissues."
"Belief in God? An afterlife? I believe in rock: this apodictic rock beneath my feet."
"From the point of view of a tapeworm, man was created by God to serve the appetite of the tapeworm."
"Proverbs save us the trouble of thinking. What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity."
"Appearance versus reality? Appearance is reality, God damn it!"
"Fantastic doctrines (like Christianity or Islam or Marxism) require unanimity of belief. One dissenter casts doubt on the creed of millions. Thus the fear and the hate; thus the torture champber, the iron stake, the gallows, the labor camp, the psychiatric ward."
"God is Love? Not bloody likely."
"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..."
"In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people who spend their lives inside rooms. It is an indoor philosophy."
"Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination."
"Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
"We live in a time of twin credulities: the hunger for the miraculous combine with a servile awe of science. The mating of the two gives the superstition plus scientism-- a Mongoloid metaphysic."
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets."
"All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self-justifying-- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings, if only for an hour."
"Men love their ideas more than their lives. And the more preposterous the idea, the more eager they are to die for it. And to kill for it."
"If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream."
"There has never been an original sin: each is quite banal."
"The ready availability of suicide, like sex and alcohol, is one of life's basic consolations."
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
"We live in a kind of world where courage is the most essential of virtues; without courage, the other virtues are useless."
"In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood."
"Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a great man. Later, a good man. Now, finally, I find it difficult enough and honor enough to be-- a man."
"Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."
"To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question."
"Art, science, philosophy, religion-- each offers at best only a crude simplification of actual living experience."
"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."
"Belief in God? An afterlife? I believe in rock: this apodictic rock beneath my feet."
"From the point of view of a tapeworm, man was created by God to serve the appetite of the tapeworm."
"Proverbs save us the trouble of thinking. What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity."
"Appearance versus reality? Appearance is reality, God damn it!"
"Fantastic doctrines (like Christianity or Islam or Marxism) require unanimity of belief. One dissenter casts doubt on the creed of millions. Thus the fear and the hate; thus the torture champber, the iron stake, the gallows, the labor camp, the psychiatric ward."
"God is Love? Not bloody likely."
"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..."
"In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people who spend their lives inside rooms. It is an indoor philosophy."
"Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination."
"Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."
"We live in a time of twin credulities: the hunger for the miraculous combine with a servile awe of science. The mating of the two gives the superstition plus scientism-- a Mongoloid metaphysic."
"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets."
"All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self-justifying-- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings, if only for an hour."
"Men love their ideas more than their lives. And the more preposterous the idea, the more eager they are to die for it. And to kill for it."
"If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream."
"There has never been an original sin: each is quite banal."
"The ready availability of suicide, like sex and alcohol, is one of life's basic consolations."
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
"We live in a kind of world where courage is the most essential of virtues; without courage, the other virtues are useless."
"In the modern technoindustrial culture, it is possible to proceed from infancy into senility without ever knowing manhood."
"Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a great man. Later, a good man. Now, finally, I find it difficult enough and honor enough to be-- a man."
"Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."
"To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question."
"Art, science, philosophy, religion-- each offers at best only a crude simplification of actual living experience."
"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."
March 18, 2019
I agree with many of his quotes, but not when he repeatedly vilifies government without modern context. Libertarianism is naive without a majority of moral people (rarely true) or small populations that can do limited damage (opposite of reality). It also depends on the technologies people wield (I = PAT).
A critical function of government is to protect The Commons from special interests. Agencies like the EPA and Dept. of Interior (when run by moral people) are often all that stand between nature and avarice. It's a mistake to think that individuals are more righteous than governments that reign them in. It's too easy to blame things on institutions while ignoring the collective impact of bad citizens.
Another random incongruity is trout fishing with blasting caps and a .44 magnum. Certainly not beneficial for anything else in the water. One assumes he didn't do that on a regular basis and it might have been a joke.
Back to the main point: Abbey often criticized greedy businessmen, so he wasn't merely anti-government. I just don't think he had the full picture of what it takes to protect nature now. Like it or not, we need more regulations to prevent runaway pillaging, especially as new technologies bring unforeseen threats, e.g. fracking and sprawling wind turbines. Those who complain the loudest tend to be polluters, poachers and tax dodgers (taxes fund environmental protection).
Abbey surely knew the following sentiment is unworkable with today's population and disruptive technologies. You can't just monkeywrench an ideal life into existence.
“If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream.”
A critical function of government is to protect The Commons from special interests. Agencies like the EPA and Dept. of Interior (when run by moral people) are often all that stand between nature and avarice. It's a mistake to think that individuals are more righteous than governments that reign them in. It's too easy to blame things on institutions while ignoring the collective impact of bad citizens.
Another random incongruity is trout fishing with blasting caps and a .44 magnum. Certainly not beneficial for anything else in the water. One assumes he didn't do that on a regular basis and it might have been a joke.
Back to the main point: Abbey often criticized greedy businessmen, so he wasn't merely anti-government. I just don't think he had the full picture of what it takes to protect nature now. Like it or not, we need more regulations to prevent runaway pillaging, especially as new technologies bring unforeseen threats, e.g. fracking and sprawling wind turbines. Those who complain the loudest tend to be polluters, poachers and tax dodgers (taxes fund environmental protection).
Abbey surely knew the following sentiment is unworkable with today's population and disruptive technologies. You can't just monkeywrench an ideal life into existence.
“If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream.”
June 28, 2016
This is a collection of quotes and witticisms from an anarchist tree-hugger. I was expecting it to have this gem, but it did not: “WEALTH AND HOW TO ACHIEVE IT: Let us define the wealthy man as he who has everything he desires. How to reach that happy condition? Two ways...
(1) Through money: Work, sweat, scheme, grovel, cheat, lie betray to acquire it. But there's no guarantee you'll succeed. Ninety-nine chances out of a hundred, you'll fail. Or...
(2) Do without: Reduce your needs to the minimum required for a healthy life. Get by on part-time work. Enjoy the leisure of the leisure class. That's the easy way to become rich, and anyone can do it; the success rate is one-hundred percent.”
Quotes:
The ideal society can be described, quite simply, as that in which no man has the power or means to coerce others.
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.
In the Soviet Union, government controls industry. In the United States, industry controls government. That is the principal structural difference between the two great oligarchies of our time.
The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.
Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a great man. Later, a good man. Now, finally, I find it difficult enough and honor enough to be - a man.
May 7, 2012
Aristotle said (or I've heard he said), "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Edward Abbey may not himself have been an environmental terrorist, but apparently his works are important to environmental terror groups. I'm a big fan of protecting the environment, conserving the natural beauty of the earth and generally not trying to screw over the planet that keeps us alive. But, I don't agree with the more extreme measures proposed by many to do this. Edward Abbey also has a lot of ideas that I strongly disagree with. However, this book laid these views out in such a way that I could entertain his viewpoint for a time without being forced to accept him. I believe there's growth that occurs from entertaining opposing viewpoints on things, it keeps the mind limber and open.
Overall, I found Edward to be overly full of himself and many of his views to be extreme, uniformed and that of a luddite.
Edward Abbey may not himself have been an environmental terrorist, but apparently his works are important to environmental terror groups. I'm a big fan of protecting the environment, conserving the natural beauty of the earth and generally not trying to screw over the planet that keeps us alive. But, I don't agree with the more extreme measures proposed by many to do this. Edward Abbey also has a lot of ideas that I strongly disagree with. However, this book laid these views out in such a way that I could entertain his viewpoint for a time without being forced to accept him. I believe there's growth that occurs from entertaining opposing viewpoints on things, it keeps the mind limber and open.
Overall, I found Edward to be overly full of himself and many of his views to be extreme, uniformed and that of a luddite.
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