“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.”

— Edward Abbey, Down the River, 1982, p. 148

About Edward Abbey

1927 – 1989

American author and environmental advocate, known for "Desert Solitaire".

“Love flowers best in openness and freedom.”

“Heaven is home. Utopia is here. Nirvana is now.”

“It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here.”

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

“That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within.”

“The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations.”

“We live in a country where the people own the Government and not in a country where the Government owns the people.”

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”

“There is nothing to life that has value, except the degree of power—assuming that life itself is the will to power.”