A cowboy is a hired hand on the middle of a horse contemplating the hind end of a cow.

it will be objected that a constantly increasing population makes resistance and conservation a hopeless battle. this is true. unless a way is found to stabilize the nation's population, the parks can not be saved. or anything else worth a damn. wilderness preservation, like a hundred other good causes, will be forgotten under the overwhelming pressure of a struggle for mere survival and sanity in a completely urbanized, completely industrialized, ever more crowded environment. for my own part i would rather take my chances in a thermonuclear war than live in such a world.

The best thing about graduating from the university was that I finally had time to sit on a log and read a good book.

Those art lovers who pride themselves mostly on *taste* usually possess no other talent.

Every moment is precious. And precarious.

The longest journey begins with a single step, not with the turn of an ignition key. That’s the best thing about walking, the journey itself. It doesn’t much matter whether you get where you’re going or not. You’ll get there anyway. Every good hike brings you eventually back home. Right where you started.

Hierarchical institutions are like giant bulldozers -- obedient to the whim of any fool who takes the controls.