Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down. Edward Abbey More Quotes by Edward Abbey More Quotes From Edward Abbey 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. Edward Abbey hikingnative-americanlife Readers, not critics, are the people who determine a book's eventual fate. Edward Abbey fatebookpeople Why must love always be accompanied--sooner or later--by sorrow and pain? Why not? Because pure bliss is for pure idiots. Edward Abbey why-notpainsorrow The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an "equalizer." Edward Abbey policedemocracymilitary One thing more dangerous than getting between a grizzly sow and her cub is getting between a businessman and a dollar bill. Edward Abbey cubsdollar-billsdollars Doctrines like Christianity or Islam or Marxism require unanimity of belief. One dissenter casts doubt on the creed of millions. Edward Abbey islamatheistdoubt Who needs astrology? The wise man gets by on fortune cookies. Edward Abbey astrologywisemen It's a fool's life, a rogue's life, and a good life if you keep laughing all the way to the grave. Edward Abbey good-lifelaughingway Men have never loved one another much, for reasons we can readily Edward Abbey lovableanimalmen By the age of forty, a man is responsible for his face. And his fate. Edward Abbey fateagemen 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. Edward Abbey phrasesspacemen Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second. Edward Abbey second-chancecoffeerunning 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. Edward Abbey pietraditionmother The best thing about graduating from the university was that I finally had time to sit on a log and read a good book. Edward Abbey best-thingsgraduatesbook 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. Edward Abbey politicalgovernmentpurpose I despise my own nation most. Because I know it best. Because I still love it, suffering from Hope. For me, that's patrotism. Edward Abbey despisestillssuffering Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination. Edward Abbey atheistimaginationdream Nothing could be more reckless than to base one's moral philosophy on the latest pronouncements of science. Edward Abbey recklessmoralphilosophy War: First day in the U.S. Army, the government placed a Bible in my left hand, a bayonet in the other. Edward Abbey armygovernmentwar The true, unacknowledged purpose of capital punishment is to inspire fear and awe -- fear and awe of the State. Edward Abbey punishmentpurposeinspire
