Sigurd F. Olson Quotes About Wilderness

• 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 F. Olson

  Distance, Adventure, Past

• 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.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Spiritual, Mean, America

  "We Need Wilderness". National Parks Magazine, January - March 1946.

• Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Simplicity, Secret, Lessons

  Sigurd F Olson (2012). “Reflections from the North Country”, p.117, Knopf

• 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.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Running, Adventure, Eye

  "Singing Wilderness".

• Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons. It is what we leave behind that is important. I think the matter of simplicity goes further than just food, equipment, and unnecessary gadgets; it goes into the matter of thoughts and objectives as well. When in the wilds, we must not carry our problems with us or the joy is lost.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Thinking, Journey, Hiking

  Sigurd F Olson (2012). “Reflections from the North Country”, p.117, Knopf

• I named this place Listening Point because only when one comes to listen, only when one is aware and still, can things be seen and heard. Everyone has a listening point somewhere. It does not have to be in the north or close to the wilderness, but someplace of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Listening, Doe, Quiet

  Sigurd F Olson (2012). “LISTENING POINT”, p.14, Knopf

• I have discovered in a lifetime of traveling in primitive regions, a lifetime of seeing people living in the wilderness and using it, that there is a hard core of wilderness need in everyone, a core that makes its spiritual values a basic human necessity. There is no hiding it....Unless we can preserve places where the endless spiritual needs of man can be fulfilled and nourished, we will destroy our culture and ourselves.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Spiritual, Men, People

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

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Way, Forgotten, Wilderness

  Sigurd F. Olson (2012). “Wilderness Days”, p.69, U of Minnesota Press

• In wilderness people can find the silence and the solitude and the noncivilized surroundings that can connect them once again to their evolutionary heritage, and through an experience of the eternal mystery, can give them a sense of the sacredness of all creation.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Music, Giving, People

• Beauty is composed of many things and never stands alone. It is part of horizons, blue in the distance, great primeval silences, knowledge of all things of the earth. It embodies the hopes and dreams of those who have gone before, including the spirit world; it is so fragile it can be destroyed by a sound or thought. It may be infinitesimally small or encompass the universe itself. It comes in a swift conception wherever nature has not been disturbed.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Dream, Nature, Distance

  Sigurd F Olson (2012). “Reflections from the North Country”, p.107, Knopf

• Wilderness can be appreciated only by contrast, and solitude understood only when we have been without it. We cannot separate ourselves from society, comradeship, sharing and love. Unless we can contribute something from wilderness experience, derive some solace or peace to share with others, then the real purpose is defeated.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Real, Solitude, And Love

  Sigurd F Olson (2012). “Reflections from the North Country”, p.52, Knopf

• Not only has wilderness been a force in molding our character as a people, but its influence continues, and will, if we are wise enough to preserve it on this continent, be a stabilizing power as well as a spiritual reserve for the future.

  Sigurd F. Olson

  Wise, Spiritual, Character

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