“It’s better to run towards something good, than away from something bad.”
Source: A Waterside Year: Fennel's Journal No. 2
“It’s important to believe in something, a spirit in things and a higher purpose. Something I call ‘True Beauty’.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“I wasn’t born to fetch, or sit, or accept a beating. I’m here to be me, to write, and know my purpose.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“The pen that was once a gift has come to represent all that I hope to achieve.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“Most of us, at some time or other, get sucked into the lifeless vacuum of work; the cogs of the corporate machine that we keep turning until one day, when we depart this Earth, we may earn the word ‘lubricant’ on our headstone.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“Win back two days of living? The sense of freedom is overwhelming! Switch off your mobile phone and consider your options.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“It is possible to escape the complexities, challenges and pace of modern life. All we have to do is close our eyes and picture a quiet world where time moves slowly.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“Stop – Unplug – Escape – Enjoy.’ This is the message of the Priory, and the key to enjoying a peaceful and rewarding life.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“The ever-increasing weight of responsibilities that enmeshes our lives keeps us locked into the system. We become the pulse that keeps the beast alive, but the cost is our own lives. The natural world around us shrinks, crushed beneath the suffocating might of work.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“Be oblivious to city high-rises, work-related stress and microwave popcorn.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“The speed of modern life is an oppressive thing, and the corporate world is quick to punish those with an honest heart.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“What I am interested in, what I write and care about, exists in the slow lane, somewhere between hand-ploughed fields and a pint of real ale.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“Time alone can help us to look inward, to fish for things that others can’t see.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“Your actions and values define you.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“Enjoy being you. Have fun. And be different.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“A person has to be comfortable in his or her own skin.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“There’s no point pretending to be someone or something we’re not.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“Compromise is a choice. As is the defence of one’s self.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“Be seasonal, ethical and gentle.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“A man is biologically incapable of giving ‘the look’.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“Soar to heights where you may view the world from a new perspective.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“The greatest gifts are those that say, “I know you”.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“Michelin Star? I’d rather chew a French rubber tyre.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“Those with traditional sense will follow what their heart tells them is right.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“Time alone helps us to remember who we are.”
Source: A Waterside Year: Fennel's Journal No. 2
“Often I have found myself gazing up at clouds – yesterday’s seas and tomorrow’s streams – to think of them as floating on an ultraviolet sea, beyond which is the infinity of space that presents so much wonder and so many questions.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“Live humbly and for the moment.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“As a child I would play with such imagination that the ‘real’ world was never real at all. It was full of mystery, adventure and possibility.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“By the time you read this letter, these words will be those of the past. The me of now is gone.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“A letter allows us to travel through time.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“Preserve the spirit of a ‘lost’ age, when time moved slower.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“Cooking and eating food outdoors makes it taste infinitely better than the same meal prepared and consumed indoors.”
Source: Fine Things: Fennel's Journal No. 8
“I needed some space to lay myself out, so that I could decide which pieces I wanted to pick up.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“I’m beginning to realise that I’m either overly sentimental, or am a hoarder who struggles to part with things. In all honesty, I’m probably both.”
Source: A Waterside Year: Fennel's Journal No. 2
“As the daydreams grew longer, the distinction between what was real and what was imaginary grew less. Soon I existed in a blissful world of my own creation.”
Source: A Waterside Year: Fennel's Journal No. 2
“You’ll never find yourself anywhere other than where you are right now.”
Source: A Waterside Year: Fennel's Journal No. 2
“A traditional Englishman drinks tea to the point where his blood has long-since been replaced with an infusion of Ceylon, Assam, and Darjeeling.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“Choice and perception are closely linked. They are unique, personal and emotional.”
Source: A Waterside Year: Fennel's Journal No. 2
“Choice is the mortar that binds together the things that make us who we are.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“The world of water has a way of perpetuating myths and shrouding lakes in mystery.”
Source: Wild Carp: Fennel's Journal No. 4
“Water creates so much beauty, life and mystery.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“Vintage fountain pens have provenance that makes a traditionalist go weak at the knuckles.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“A pen transmits the voice of the soul.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“Proper writing ink comes in a bottle, can be swirled like brandy in a glass, and smells like apple blossom after rain.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“The more we try to control nature, the more imbalanced our world becomes.”
Source: A Meaningful Life - Fennel's Journal - No. 1
“Seek a slower, simpler life.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“There should be no urgency.”
Source: Traditional Angling: Fennel's Journal No. 6
“I believe that modern life is moving too fast. A bullet travels quickly, but it usually comes to an abrupt and fatal end.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“I like to start slowly, and then ease up as the day progresses.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3
“Those who sprint might travel quicker, but we’ll all end up in the same place at the end.”
Source: A Writer's Year: Fennel's Journal No. 3