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Quote by Edward Abbey

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Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast

This book features a series of postcards, each accompanied by a short essay, providing a unique perspective on American life and its complexities. Ed Ruscha's distinctive style and wit are evident throughout, offering readers a glimpse into the mind of an influential artist and cultural critic. more

Author

Edward Abbey
Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey was an American author known for his naturalist works and advocacy for environmental protection. His writings often take the desolate wilderness of the American Southwest as a backdrop, profoundly revealing the relationship between humans and nature. Abbey's writing style is unique, filled with humor and satire, and has had a profound impact on later generations. more

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“Is there a feeling as love at first sight ? and if there be, in what does its nature differ from love founded in long observation and slow growth? perhaps its effect are not permanent; but they are, while they last, as violent and intense. We walk the pathless mazes of society vacant of joy till we hold this clue, leading us though that labyrinth of paradise and our nature dim like to an enlightened touch sleeps in formless blank till the fire attain it”

“We placed his remains under a cypress, the upright mountain being scooped out to receive them. And then Clara said, ‘If you wish me to live, take me from hence. There is something in this scene of transcendent beauty, in these trees, and hills and waves, that for ever whisper to me, leave thy cumbrous flesh, and make a part of us. I earnestly entreat you to take me away.”

“The world of the impotent sits squatting on the straw of the life of illusion. Its law is one of renunciation and defeat, submission to all forms of plunder and pillage. It is based on deliverance from the burdens of the ready-made and moral searches, to comprehend the humiliation and justify it. It is based on a readiness to undertake hereditary or future costuming in order to fell from the conflict of the present.”

“Most would live into adulthood, as Patrick had. (Which meant there was quite a lot of competitiveness about it, with everybody wanting to beat not only cancer itself, but also the other people in the room. Like, I realize that this is irrational, but when they tell you that you have, say, a 20 percent chance of living five years, the math kicks in and you figure that’s one in five…so you look around and think, as any healthy person would: I gotta outlast four of these bastards.)”