Thoughts on Outdoor Recreation

Sometimes quotations from famous people have a great impact upon us.  There are a few reasons:

• the fame or intelligence of the author suggests that their quote is particularly important or credible and has authority behind it
• the quote seems poignant and sincere
• the quote is original – although sometimes it’s hard to find the person that originally made the statement
• most importantly, the quote seems to be speaking to us and our personal values

When it comes to outdoor recreation and actually getting out there to do it, these quotes can offer some helpful motivation.

Cloudline’s Favorite Thoughts

Cloudline Apparel recently listed their five all-time favorite outdoor quotes.

• 

  A meadow along the Pacific Crest Trail in Crater Lake National Park
  Click for a larger version.

  “Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world”  – John Muir.   According to Dan Styer of Oberlin University, this quote isn’t exactly correct.  The actual quote was handwritten by Muir in his copy of volume I of Prose Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  That volume is now in the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University (BEIN Za Em34 C869 Copy 3).  The actual quote is: “Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.“

• “A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” – Henry David Thoreau. It comes from Thoreau’s book, Walden.
• “Nature is not a place to visit. It is a home.”  – Gary Snyder. Snyder is the author of several books.  In The Idea of Wilderness (1991), Max Oelschlaeger called Snyder the ‘Poet Laureate of Deep Ecology.’
• “The wilderness holds answers to questions man has not yet learned to ask.”  – Nancy Newhall. Newhall was an American photography critic and wrote several books on photography and nature.
• “Great things are done when men and mountains meet.”  – William Blake.  Blake was an English poet.  This quote comes from The poetical works of William Blake.  A more complete quote is:
  “Great things are done when men and mountains meet;
  This is not done by jostling in the street.”

Our Favorite Thoughts

I also have some favorite quotes and find that specific photos help put them in context for me.  Besides the Camas and Muir quotes above, here are more of my favorites.  Click the image to see a larger version.

We cannot think too highly of nature, nor too humbly of ourselves. – Charles Caleb Colton	Nature brings solace in all troubles. – Anne Frank
To him the mountains were a book to which there was no end.	Burnout is a state of mind. – Ram Dass
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival. – Aristotle	Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading; I will rather say more necessary, because health is worth more than learning. – Thomas Jefferson

Your Favorite Thoughts

Those are some great ideas that can help motivate you to get out and explore. Do you have some special quotations that motivate you? If so, let us know in the comments below (at the blog).

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