Quotes from Sigurd F. Olson

Joys come from simple and natural things: mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water.

Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium.

Without love of the land, conservation lacks meaning or purpose, for only in a deep and inherent feeling for the land can there be dedication in preserving it.

Joys come from simple and natural things; mist over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. Even rain and wind and stormy clouds bring joy.

only when one comes to listen, only when one is aware and still, can things be seen and heard.

It was good to lie there in our bags watching the glow of our dying fire and the deeper glow of sunset beyond; but most of all it was good to feel the ground again and to know we were back in a country we loved.

Spring, in addition to many other things, is a time for renewal of memories that may have grown dim during the winter,

Ours was a sense of golden leisure that comes only in the spring, after months of grayness and cold.

It was the contrast that fascinated Mac as much as anything else. Knowing that both the wilderness and civilization were available to the nth degree, he was completely happy. I have found it is the same with many men; being able to live in the present and also in the past gives them a sense of completeness that they can get in no other way.

As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their eyes and a touch of wildness in their souls, rapids will be run.

The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten.

If we can change our priorities, achieve balance and understanding in our roles as human beings in a complex world, the coming era can well be that of a richer civilization, not its end.