--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The automobile, which began as a…" description: "\"“The automobile, which began as a transportation convenience, has become a bloody tyrant (50,000 lives a year), and it is the responsibility of the par..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a02/edward-abbey-254_automobile_the-automobile-which-began-as-a-transpor_1111099.jpg" --- # The automobile, which began as a transportation… ![“The automobile, which began as a transportation convenience, has become a bloody tyrant (50,000 lives a year), and it is the responsibility of the park service, as well as that of everyone else concerned with preserving both wilderness and civilization, to begin a campaign of resistance.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a02/edward-abbey-254_automobile_the-automobile-which-began-as-a-transpor_1111099.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a02/edward-abbey-254_automobile_the-automobile-which-began-as-a-transpor_1111099.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a02/edward-abbey-254_automobile_the-automobile-which-began-as-a-transpor_1111099.jpg) > ““The automobile, which began as a transportation convenience, has become a bloody tyrant (50,000 lives a year), and it is the responsibility of the park service, as well as that of everyone else concerned with preserving both wilderness and civilization, to begin a campaign of resistance.”” [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. Cars have become destructive forces, and protecting nature requires active resistance. **In simple terms:** Cars harm nature; resist them. Key Takeaway Advocate for sustainable transport. Themes environment technology activism Mood urgent defiant Type environmental activist When to use this quote - urban planning - policy advocacy - community organizing Key Concepts industrialization environmental impact civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives can reduce car dependence? - How can individuals effectively oppose harmful technologies? A Different Perspective Resistance may face political and economic pushback. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Automobile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) [Automobile Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile-began-2960437/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Park Service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/park-service-2067412/) [Preserving Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserving-wilderness-2960438/) [Wilderness Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness-civilization-2960439/) ## Related quotes > [“How to pry the tourists out of their automobiles, out of their back-breaking upholstered mechanized wheelchairs and onto their feet, onto the strange warmth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/how-to-pry-the-tourists-out-of-their-automobiles-out-of-their-back/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Typically, an historic site is considered by the National Park Service to contain a single historical feature, while generally a National Historic Park extends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-renzi/typically-an-historic-site-is-considered-by-the-national-park-service/) [Rick Renzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-renzi/) > [“Since joining the National Park Service fourteen years ago, Anna had worked every Fourth of July. ... 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Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-that-he-cannot-be-and-is-a/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## 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. 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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 Automobile quotes > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-that-he-cannot-be-and-is-a/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There comes a day of public ceremonial, and a chance to make a speech… A million voters with IQs below 60 have their ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-comes-a-day-of-public-ceremonial-and-a-chance-to-make-a-speech/) [H. 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