How strange and wonderful is our home, our earth, with its swirling vaporous atmosphere, its flowing and frozen liquids, its trembling plants, its creeping, crawling, climbing creatures, the croaking things with wings that hang on rocks and soar through the fog, the furry grass, the scaly seas.

All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?

A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.

Appearance versus reality? Appearance is reality, God damn it!

Running the big rapids is like sex: half the fun lies in the anticipation. Two thirds of the thrill with the approach. The remainder is only ecstasy-or darkness.

In order to write a book, it is necessary to sit down (or stand up) and write. Therein lies the difficulty.

In the world of words, one of my best-loved tribes is the diatribe.