Why this cult of wilderness?... because we like the taste of freedom; because we like the smell of danger.

A mother's sorrow is more true, honorable, and beautiful than the detachment of the sage.

A genius is always on duty; even his dreams are tax deductible.

War? The one war I'd be happy to join is the war against officers.

The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders.

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.

The ready availability of suicide, like sex and alcohol, is one of life's basic consolations.