Here’s a random assortment of quotes that I’ve come across over the years. Some have stuck out more than others, but all have been meaningful in their own way.
- The irony of life in the 21st century is that some of our most meaningful socialization happens around the wilderness campfire. – Stuart Osthoff
- A new adventure is coming up and I’m sure it will be a good one. – Sigurd Olson’s last written words
- The movement of a canoe is like a reed in the wind. Silence is part of it, and the sounds of lapping water, bird songs, and wind in the trees. It is part of the medium through which it floats, the sky, the water, the shores….There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace. The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten. It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to waterways of ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfactions. When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known. – Sigurd Olson
- Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better to paint a picture, or write a letter, bake a cake, or plant a seed; Ponder the difference between want and need? Dust if you must, but there’s not much time, with rivers to swim, and mountains to climb; music to hear, and books to read; friends to cherish, and life to lead. Dust if you must, but the world’s out there with the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair; a flutter of snow, a shower of rain, this day will not come around again. Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and it’s not kind. And when you go (and go you must) you, yourself, will make more dust. – Rose Milligan