“After a supper of navy beans, I sat on my threshold and gazed off toward the volcanic mountains. I had been close to them today. The Chilikadrotna River showed me the beautiful fish and I returned them to her. I thought of the sights I had seen. The price was physical toll. Money does little good back here. It could not buy the fit feeling that surged through my arms and shoulders. It could not buy the feeling of accomplishment. I had been my own tour guide, and my own power had been my transportation. This great big country was my playground, and I could afford the price it demanded.”
Source: First Wilderness: My Quest in the Territory of Alaska
“What a man never has, he never misses. I learned something from the big game animals. Their food is pretty much the same from day to day. I don't vary my fare too much either, and I've never felt better in my life. I don't confuse my digestive system. I just season simple food with hunger.”
Source: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
“I have often though about what I would do out here if I were stricken by a serious illness, if I broke a leg, cut myself badly, or had an attack of appendicities. Almost as quickly as the thought came, I dismissed it. Why worry about something that isn't? Worrying about something that might happen is not a healthy pastime. A man's a fool to live his life under a shadow like that. Maybe that's how an ulcer begins.”
Source: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
“I've seen a lot of sights from this old spruce chunk, and have thought a lot of thoughts. The more I think about it, the better off I think I am. The crime rate up here is close to zero. I forget what it is like to be sick or have a cold. I don't have bills coming in every month to pay for things I really don't need. My legs and canoe provide my transportation. They take me as far as I care to go.”
Source: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
“During Dick's long tenure, Twin Lakes became part of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Today, a ranger station is situated near the foot of the lower lake...the cabin's guest register lists hundreds of visitors, including former governor of Alaska Jay Hammond and the late singer John Denver.”
Source: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
“In 1998, he (Dick Proenneke) made the decision to leave his log cabin and live with his brother, Raymond in Hemet, California. He donated the log cabin and most of his possessions to the National Park Service...Dick passed away in Hemet, California on April 20, 2003.”
Source: One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Sam Keith
“At the bottom of the passage, behind thick steel doors, I witnessed the true wealth of that country.
Others have estimated the value in those rooms of grains, of nuts, of beans; of the millions in canned foie and white asparagus; of the greenhouses under their orange lights, and the vast spice grottos. I can't quote numbers. I can only say what happened when I pressed my face to a wheel of ten-year Parmigiano, how in a burst of grass and ripe pineapple I stood in some green meadow that existed only in the resonance, like a bell's fading peal, of that aroma. I can tell you how it was to cradle wines and vinegars older than myself, their labels crying out the names of lost traditions. And I can tell you of the ferocious crack in my heart when I walked into the deep freezer to see chickens, pigs, rabbits, cows, pheasants, tunas, sturgeon, boars hung two by two. No more boars roamed the world above, no Öland geese, no sharks; the day I climbed the mountain, there vanished wild larks. I knew, then, why the storerooms were guarded as if they held gold, or nuclear armaments. They hid something rarer still: a passage back through time.
The animal carcasses were left unskinned. In the circulating air, the extinct revolved on their hooks to greet me.”
Source: Land of Milk and Honey
“Tankersley says while the cosmic strike had an immediate and deadly effect, the long term side effects were far more devastating, similar to Krakatoa's aftermath but many times worse, thus making it unique in modern human history. In the cataclysm's wake, toxic gas poisoned the air and clouded the sky, causing temperatures to plummet. The roiling climate challenged the existence of plant and animal populations, and it produced what Tankersley has classified as 'winners' and 'losers' of the Younger Dryas. He says inhabitants of this time period had three choices: relocate to another environment where they could make a similar living; downsize or adjust their way of living to fit the current surroundings; or swiftly go extinct. 'Winners' chose one of the first two options, while 'losers,' such as the woolly mammoth, took the last.”
Source: Aftershock: The Ancient Cataclysm That Erased Human History
“The most trivial things create the most critical complications in any execution.”
Source: How Leaders Decide: Tackling Biases and Risks in Decision Making
“You become a hypocrite when you can't freely be at peace with others, but you can carry green palm leaves to church to commemorate "palm Sunday"! Throw those palm leaves somewhere; and lay your life down for someone to walk on and get to the destined land!”
Source: The Great Hand Book of Quotes