--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The gross evil of our time defies all…" description: "\"“The gross evil of our time defies all labels.”\" — Edward Abbey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png" --- # The gross evil of our time defies all labels. ![“The gross evil of our time defies all labels.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png) > ““The gross evil of our time defies all labels.”” [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. The era's profound moral corruption resists simple categorization, indicating complex, pervasive evil. **In simple terms:** Our time’s evil is hard to label. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront complex injustices. Themes environment morality corruption Mood critical somber Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - political activism - environmental policy Key Concepts Ethics societal decay Questions to Reflect On - What modern issues feel indescribable? - How can we address systemic evil? A Different Perspective Labeling can oversimplify nuanced issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Music keeps time and defies time, simultaneously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wittig-albert/music-keeps-time-and-defies-time-simultaneously/) [Susan Wittig Albert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wittig-albert/) > [One thing is clear: Ron Paul defies labels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mckinnon/one-thing-is-clear-ron-paul-defies-labels/) [Mark McKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mckinnon/) > [I see in Communism the focus of the concentrated evil of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/i-see-in-communism-the-focus-of-the-concentrated-evil-of-our-time/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [Nonviolence is the answer for the questions of our time. Love will conquer evil every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-twyman/nonviolence-is-the-answer-for-the-questions-of-our-time-love-will/) [James F. Twyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-twyman/) > [I venture to prophesy that there lies before us a bitter and an evil time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/i-venture-to-prophesy-that-there-lies-before-us-a-bitter-and-an-evil/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [I also feel that if you were evil, then next time around you would be very good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-velasquez/i-also-feel-that-if-you-were-evil-then-next-time-around-you-would-be/) [Patricia Velasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-velasquez/) > [The destruction of the personality is the great evil of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/the-destruction-of-the-personality-is-the-great-evil-of-the-time/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [I'm not sure everybody agrees with me. I guess a lot of people don't. We are living in a time that's as evil as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-not-sure-everybody-agrees-with-me-i-guess-a-lot-of-people-don-t/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [It is an evil time but it is a complex time because we do not have uniforms standing in front of us. Instead, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/it-is-an-evil-time-but-it-is-a-complex-time-because-we-do-not-have/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [We find the vast majority of people in every country believing that there will be a time when this world will become perfect, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/we-find-the-vast-majority-of-people-in-every-country-believing-that/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“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/) > [GROSS, why the fuck I say these things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/childish-gambino/gross-why-the-fuck-i-say-these-things/) [Childish Gambino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/childish-gambino/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) ## 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 Evil quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry, if not the greatest, is one of the greatest moral and political evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/i-do-conscientiously-and-sincerely-believe-that-the-order-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/the-republicans-do-not-look-on-the-democrats-as-the-evil-empire/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-done-out-of-love-always-takes-place-beyond-good-and-evil/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Evil cannot be "treated" -- nor should it be. Evil has to \[be\] confronted and destroyed and it matters not why the evil is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/evil-cannot-be-treated-nor-should-it-be-evil-has-to-be-confronted-and/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [The evil which does me no harm is like the good which in no wise avails me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-evil-which-does-me-no-harm-is-like-the-good-which-in-no-wise/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/attack-the-evil-that-is-within-yourself-rather-than-attacking-the/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) James Nayler > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“Water is so friendly when you have it on your palms, but so evil when they have you on theirs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/water-is-so-friendly-when-you-have-it-on-your-palms-but-so-evil-when/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [THE ART OF PEACE is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/the-art-of-peace-is-not-easy-it-is-a-fight-to-the-finish-the-slaying/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) [Browse all 11,163 Evil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The gross evil of our time defies all labels.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-labels/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-labels/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f42/edward-abbey-254_evil_the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-la_2298160.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The gross evil of our time defies all labels.” — 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": "“The gross evil of our time...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-labels/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-gross-evil-of-our-time-defies-all-labels/#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 } } ] } ```