You should own nothing except what you can carry on your back at a dead run.

When a young person is moved by a passion and feels compelled to go on this sort of quest, I think you have to let him. You can't stop him. In our culture we don't have formal rights of passage like in some ancient cultures. Subjecting yourself to risk... may be something you have to go through to be a man or a woman.

I don't know what God is, or what God had in mind when the universe was set in motion. In fact, I don't know if God even exists, although I confess that I sometimes find myself praying in times of great fear, or despair, or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty.

Once you believe that God is speaking directly to you, there is no discussion.

Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.

You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.

But [Everett] and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.