Night and day the river flows. If time is the mind of space, the River is the soul of the desert. Brave boatmen come, they go, they die, the voyage flows on forever. We are all canyoneers. We are all passengers on this little mossy ship, this delicate dory sailing round the sun that humans call the earth. Joy, shipmates, joy.

There is beauty, heartbreaking beauty, everywhere.

Let us hope our weapons are never needed - but do not forget what the common people of this nation knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny.

I was once invited to take part in a heroic, possibly fatal enterprise, but I declined, mainly on account of sloth.

The highest treason, the meanest treason, is to deny the holiness of this little blue planet on which we journey through the cold void of space.

I would not sacrifice a single living mesquite tree for any book ever written. One square mile of living desert is worth a hundred 'great books' - and one brave deed is worth a thousand.

Paradise for a happy man lies in his own good nature.