What is the purpose of the giant sequoia tree? The purpose of the giant sequoia tree is to provide shade for the tiny titmouse.

—Edward Abbey

purpose trees mice

About Edward Abbey

Portrait of Edward Abbey

Edward Paul 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. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by...

More quotations from Edward Abbey

When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.

—Edward Abbey

Among politicians and businessmen, "pragmatism" is the current term for "to hell with our children.

—Edward Abbey

Whether in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the barrios of Caracas, the ghettos of Newark, the mining towns of West Virginia, or the tarpaper villages of Gallup, Flagstaff, and Shiprock, it's the same the world over—one big wretched family sequestered in sullen desperation, pawed over by social workers, kicked around by the cops, and prayed over by the missionaries.

—Edward Abbey

Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.

—Edward Abbey

spirit necessity luxury wilderness

Such things… as the grasp of a child's hand in your own, the flavor of an apple, the embrace of a friend or a lover, the silk of a girl's thigh, the sunlight on rock and leaves, the feel of music, the bark of a tree, the abrasion of granite and sand, the plunge of clear water into a pool, the face of the wind—what else is there? What else do we need?

—Edward Abbey

More quotations tagged with “trees”

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.

—Willa Cather

He that climbs the tall tree has won right to the fruit.

—Sir Walter Scott

You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.

—Saint Bernard

You should go to a pear tree for pears, not to an elm.

—Publilius Syrus

Trees, though they are cut and lopped, grow up again quickly, but if men are destroyed, it is not easy to get them again.

History

8 Nov 2015 Added