“Under the desert sun, in the dogmatic clarity, the fables of theology and the myths of classical philosophy dissolve like mist. The air is clean, the rock cuts cruelly into flesh; shatter the rock and the odor of flint rises to your nostrils, bitter and sharp. Whirlwinds dance across the salt flats, a pillar of dust by day; the thornbush breaks into flame at night. What does it mean? It means nothing. It is as it is and has no need for meaning. The desert lies beneath and soars beyond any possible human qualification. Therefore, sublime.” NeedsHumansMeanDoePhilosophyLyingNightBreakSunCuttingAirRocksCleanMythFleshTheologyBitterClarityDustDesertFlamesFlatsSaltSublimeSoarMistPillarsFablesQualificationsDogmaticOdor Author:Edward Abbey
“Tempests, and bright lightnings, are to be sung; their nature is to be told, and from what cause they pursue their course; lest, having foolishly divided the heaven into parts, you should be anxious as to the quarter from which the flying flame may come, or to what region it may betake itself; and tremble to think how it penetrates through walled enclosures, and how, having exercised its power, it extricates itself from them. Of which phenomena the multitude can by no means see the causes, and think that they are accomplished by supernatural power.” ThinkingShouldMayMeanCoursesHeavenCausesFlyingPursueFlamesAccomplishedRegionsDividedAnxiousQuartersLightningMultitudesPenetrateTempestSupernatural PowersEnclosure Book:On the Nature of Things Source: On the Nature of Things