--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mexico: where life is cheap, death is…" description: "\"Mexico: where life is cheap, death is rich, and the buzzards are never unhappy.\" — Edward Abbey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png" --- # Mexico: where life is cheap, death is rich, and the… ![“Mexico: where life is cheap, death is rich, and the buzzards are never unhappy.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png) > “Mexico: where life is cheap, death is rich, and the buzzards are never unhappy.” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life in harsh places can feel cheap while death feels valuable, and even scavengers seem content. **In simple terms:** Hard life cheap, death rich, buzzards content. Key Takeaway Recognize value in all experiences. Themes survival value contentment Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - rural living - environmental activism - philosophical reflection Key Concepts existentialism environmentalism Questions to Reflect On - How does scarcity shape our perception of wealth? - What can we learn from nature’s acceptance? A Different Perspective The phrasing may romanticize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Buzzards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buzzards/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mexico](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mexico/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [I was born in 1976. I grew up in a traditional Mexican family. As a child, I had a pretty normal life: I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emiliano-salinas/i-was-born-in-1976-i-grew-up-in-a-traditional-mexican-family-as-a/) [Emiliano Salinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emiliano-salinas/) > [Who is there today who still cares about a well-finished death? No one. Even the rich, who could after all afford this luxury, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/who-is-there-today-who-still-cares-about-a-well-finished-death-no-one/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Dont get scared of death. Get rich! Then die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-benzine/dont-get-scared-of-death-get-rich-then-die/) [Craig Benzine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-benzine/) > [We are kindred all of us, killer and victim, predator and prey, me and the sly coyote, the soaring buzzard, the elegant gopher snake,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/we-are-kindred-all-of-us-killer-and-victim-predator-and-prey-me-and/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Life is cheap, especially mine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heero-yuy/life-is-cheap-especially-mine/) Heero Yuy > [“He never feared anything again. Because he knew the secret. Life was cheap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decandido-keith-r-a/he-never-feared-anything-again-because-he-knew-the-secret-life-was/) DeCandido Keith R. A > [Take care that you hold not your priceless life so cheap as gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-naimy/take-care-that-you-hold-not-your-priceless-life-so-cheap-as-gold/) [Mikhail Naimy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-naimy/) > [“Life is cheap, make sure you buy enough”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-darnell/life-is-cheap-make-sure-you-buy-enough/) Gerald Darnell > [“The World will always need "magic". Without it, Life is nothing but cheap tricks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solange-nicole/the-world-will-always-need-magic-without-it-life-is-nothing-but-cheap/) [Solange nicole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solange-nicole/) > [In a saturated population life is always cheap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/in-a-saturated-population-life-is-always-cheap/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [You must hold hard to life and do it. But life is a cheap thing beside a man's work. The only thing is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-must-hold-hard-to-life-and-do-it-but-life-is-a-cheap-thing-beside/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Monkey John looked at the dead boy. "By God, life is cheap up here on the goddamned Canadian River." "Cheap," Blue Duck answered. "And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/monkey-john-looked-at-the-dead-boy-by-god-life-is-cheap-up-here-on/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [I think of my life as a cheap novel. Part of you wants it to go on forever, and part of you wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-bean/i-think-of-my-life-as-a-cheap-novel-part-of-you-wants-it-to-go-on/) [Orson Bean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-bean/) > [Abortion on demand has, in my judgment, contributed significantly to an environment in our country in which life has become very cheap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-casey/abortion-on-demand-has-in-my-judgment-contributed-significantly-to-an/) [Robert Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-casey/) > [In a brutal country like ours, where human life is 'cheap', it's stupid to destroy yourself for the sake of your beliefs. Beliefs? High…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/in-a-brutal-country-like-ours-where-human-life-is-cheap-it-s-stupid-2/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. By submitting to huge hierarchies of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-institutions-are-too-big-they-represent-not-the-best-but-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Where all pretend to be thinking alike, it's likely that no one is thinking at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/where-all-pretend-to-be-thinking-alike-it-s-likely-that-no-one-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/nobody-has-so-many-friends-that-he-can-afford-to-lose-one/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“But why, the questioner insists, why do people like you pretend to love uninhabited country so much? Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Buzzards quotes > [The wild black scavengers of the skies laid their eggs in season and lovingly fed their young. They soared high over prairies and mountains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-m-miller-jr-2/the-wild-black-scavengers-of-the-skies-laid-their-eggs-in-season-and/) [Walter M. Miller, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-m-miller-jr-2/) > [“Buzzards don’t make good friends. They always have an interior motive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-erickson/buzzards-don-t-make-good-friends-they-always-have-an-interior-motive/) [John R. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-erickson/) > [“The buzzards wait for it to die, not knowing that it’s already dead. By the number of them, they have been waiting a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-walls/the-buzzards-wait-for-it-to-die-not-knowing-that-it-s-already-dead-by/) [Annie Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-walls/) > [Buzzards got to eat, same as the worms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/buzzards-got-to-eat-same-as-the-worms/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [Now you wonder why he does it, how he does it, wasnt cause he had buzzards circle around his head waiting for him to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/now-you-wonder-why-he-does-it-how-he-does-it-wasnt-cause-he-had/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [If I were reincarnated, I'd want to come back a buzzard. Nothing hates him or envies him or wants him or needs him. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/if-i-were-reincarnated-i-d-want-to-come-back-a-buzzard-nothing-hates/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“I've exercised with women so thin, buzzards followed them to their cars.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-ve-exercised-with-women-so-thin-buzzards-followed-them-to-their-cars/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [Hamburger steak is carrion, and quite unfit for food except by a turkey buzzard, a hyena, or some other scavenger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harvey-kellogg/hamburger-steak-is-carrion-and-quite-unfit-for-food-except-by-a/) [John Harvey Kellogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-harvey-kellogg/) > [The miser and the glutton are two facetious buzzards: one hides his store, and the other stores his hide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/the-miser-and-the-glutton-are-two-facetious-buzzards-one-hides-his/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [My sister called me "Buzzard" when I was a baby - she couldn't say "Brother" so I've been Buzz my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/my-sister-called-me-buzzard-when-i-was-a-baby-she-couldn-t-say/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [“Questions from earlier circle like buzzards. Am I running away or moving forward?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-cooper/questions-from-earlier-circle-like-buzzards-am-i-running-away-or/) [Doug Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-cooper/) > [I've exercised with women so thin that buzzards followed them to their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-ve-exercised-with-women-so-thin-that-buzzards-followed-them-to/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [Oh, we played about like three tons of buzzard puke this afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-dykes/oh-we-played-about-like-three-tons-of-buzzard-puke-this-afternoon/) Spike Dykes > [Well, laddie, if you've let an old buzzard like me hurt you confidence, you couldn't have had much in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/well-laddie-if-you-ve-let-an-old-buzzard-like-me-hurt-you-confidence/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [“We watched the buzzards soaring with the brutal grace of skateboarding teenagers, up to nothing that was ostensibly no-good, but menacing all the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-furniss/we-watched-the-buzzards-soaring-with-the-brutal-grace-of/) [Jo Furniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-furniss/) [Browse all 25 Buzzards quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buzzards/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mexico: where life is cheap, death is rich, and the buzzards are never unhappy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich-and-the-buzzards-are-never/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Buzzards" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich-and-the-buzzards-are-never/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/edward-abbey-254_buzzards_mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich_589132.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mexico: where life is cheap, death is rich, and the buzzards are never unhappy.” — Edward Abbey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edward Abbey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mexico: where life is cheap, death...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich-and-the-buzzards-are-never/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/mexico-where-life-is-cheap-death-is-rich-and-the-buzzards-are-never/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```