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My notion of a great novel is something like a five-hundred-page shaggy-dog story, with only the punch line omitted.

Edward Abbey

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Edward Abbey
Age: 62 †
Born: 1927
Born: January 29
Died: 1989
Died: March 14
Author
Environmentalist
Essayist
Novelist
Philosopher
Screenwriter
Writer
Edward Paul Abbey
Like
Hundred
Shaggy
Novel
Omitted
Lines
Punch
Five
Page
Story
Notion
Stories
Pages
Great
Dog
Something
Line

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Running the big rapids is like sex: half the fun lies in the anticipation. Two thirds of the thrill with the approach. The remainder is only ecstasy-or darkness.
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I've wrecked and ravaged half my life in the pursuit of women, and I suffer the pangs of about seventeen regrets -- the seventeen who got away.
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The most striking thing about the rich is the gracious democracy of their manners -- and the crude vulgarity of their way of life.
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Why the critics, like a flock of ducks, always move in perfect unison: Their authority with the public depends upon an appearance of unanimous agreement. One dissenting voice would shatter the whole fragile structure.
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Do I believe in ghosts? I believe in the ghosts that haunt the human mind.
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Anywhere, anytime, I'd sacrifice the finest nuance for a laugh, the most elegant trope for a smile.
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Nature is indifferent to our love, but never unfaithful.
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Balance, that's the secret. Moderate extremism. The best of both worlds.
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Guns don't kill people people kill people. Of course, people with guns kill more people. But that's only natural. It's hard. But it's fair.
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Those art lovers who pride themselves mostly on *taste* usually possess no other talent.
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Little boys love machines girls adore horses grown-up men and women like to walk.
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In the dog-eat-dog economy, the Doberman is boss.
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The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.
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Some people write to please, to soothe, to console. Others to provoke, to challenge, to exasperate and infuriate. I've always found the second approach the more pleasing.
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What is the purpose of the giant sequoia tree? The purpose of the giant sequoia tree is to provide shade for the tiny titmouse.
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The only thing left worth saving is wilderness.
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I've never yet read a review of one of my own books that I couldn't have written much better myself.
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It is true that some of my fiction was based on actual events. But the events took place after the fiction was written.
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I was once invited to take part in a heroic, possibly fatal enterprise, but I declined, mainly on account of sloth.
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I'm a fastidious sort of fellow, fond of watermelon and buckbrush nuts.
Edward Abbey