The Best Edward Abbey Quotes

October 5, 2017

What Are Your Favorite Edward Abbey Quotes?

Edward Abbey (January 29, 1927-March 14, 1989) was an “American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views” (Wikipedia.org). Abbey’s writings opened the eyes of readers to what was happening in the American West and the author developed a cult following.

Abbey authored numerous books and wrote countless essays. As a wordsmith, Abbey’s writings are filled with brilliant quotes and wise wisdom on death, nature, happiness, adventure, life, and a wide variety of other topics. His novels proudly sit on the shelves of outdoor enthusiasts from around the world. Maybe you’ve read his novels like The Monkey Wrench Gang, Desert Solitaire, or The Fool’s Progress? If not, add them to your reading list.

Below you’ll find a selection of the best Edward Abbey quotes:

Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.
I am not an atheist but an earthiest. Be true to the earth.
Freedom begins between the ears.
Life is too short for grief. Or regret. Or bullshit.
Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.
Society is like a stew. If you don’t stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.
When the situation is hopeless, there’s nothing to worry about.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.
If the end does not justify the means – what can?
How to Overthrow the System: brew your own beer; kick in your Tee Vee; kill your own beef; build your own cabin and piss off the front porch whenever you bloody well feel like it.
A drink a day keeps the shrink away.
Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.
You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light.
Love implies anger. The man who is angered by nothing cares about nothing.
The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders.
Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.
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.
There are some places so beautiful they can make a grown man break down and weep.
A world without open country would be universal jail.
Anarchism is democracy taken seriously.
Wilderness. The word itself is music.
A great thirst is a great joy when quenched in time.
Without courage, all other virtues are useless.
I stand for what I stand on.
Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter.
Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.
We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to go there…. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope.
Heaven is home. Utopia is here. Nirvana is now.
To die alone, on rock under sun at the brink of the unknown, like a wolf, like a great bird, seems to me very good fortune indeed.
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.
To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me.
Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat teamwork.
The best thing about graduating from the university was that I finally had time to sit on a log and read a good book.
Balance, that’s the secret. Moderate extremism. The best of both worlds.
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.
When a man’s best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.
Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others.
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.
I’ve never yet read a review of one of my own books that I couldn’t have written much better myself.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.

Pretty good stuff, right? Is it time to read some Abbey? You’ll find and endless selection of quality Abbey quotes out there if you search around.

Which of these Edward Abbey quotes is your favorite? Did we miss any quotes that we should add to the list? Tell us in the comments below.

To read more about Edward Abbey, pick up one of many books on Amazon.com. Learn more about Edward Abbey on Wikipedia.org.

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