Simplicity is always a virtue. One kid on a riverbank working out a Stephen Foster tune on his new harmonica heard from the correct esthetic distance projects more magic and power than the entire Vienna Philharmonic and Chorus laboring (once again) through the Mozart Requiem or Bach's B Minor Mass.
Edward AbbeyClimbing K2 or floating the Grand Canyon in an inner tube; there are some things one would rather have done than do.
Edward AbbeyOnly a fool would leave the enjoyment of rainbows to the opticians. Or give the science of optics the last word on the matter.
Edward AbbeyThe knowledge that refuge is available, when and if needed, makes the silent inferno of the desert more easily bearable. Mountains complement desert as desert complements city, as wilderness complements and completes civilization.
Edward AbbeyA good writer must have more than vin rosé in his veins, use more than Chablis for ink.
Edward AbbeyThe real work of men was hunting meat. The invention of agriculture was a giant step in the wrong direction, leading to serfdom, cities, and empire. From a race of hunters, artists, warriors, and tamers of horses, we degraded ourselves to what we are now: clerks, functionaries, laborers, entertainers, processors of information.
Edward Abbey