Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.

The desert wears... a veil of mystery. Motionless and silent it evokes in us an elusive hint of something unknown, unknowable, about to be revealed. Since the desert does not act it seems to be waiting -- but waiting for what?

There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.

What ideal, immutable Platonic cloud could equal the beauty and perfection of any ordinary everyday cloud floating over, say, Tuba City, Arizona, on a hot day in June?

Love implies anger. The man who is angered by nothing cares about nothing.

There are only two kinds of books -- good books and the others. The good are winnowed from the bad through the democracy of time.

To be alive is to take risks; to be always safe and secure is death.