Inspiration to Embrace Nature and Live in the Moment
Hot Springs National Park, AR - Photo Credit: Chris Blake
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The Great Outdoors has long been a breeding ground for inspiration of all sorts. For creative-types, nature has spawned some of the greatest art this planet has ever seen - in music, photography, writing, paintings, and so many other forms of media. Even for those without a creative bone in their bodies, getting out into nature can help revive, refresh, and revitalize their psyche, grounding them in reality while also helping them to dream bigger - that great paradox of inspiration that must forever be chased.
Often times that inspiration we feel creeping into our souls when we step outside is extremely difficult to express, to convey, to properly put into words. We know it when we feel it, but we don't know how to tell others exactly what it is that makes us crave it, chase it, embrace it with every bone in our bodies. Fortunately, some of the best writers and orators in history, who might be slightly better wordsmiths than ourselves, have provided us with a litany of quotes over the years to help explain that feeling nature brings to us whenever we find ourselves far enough away from everyone apathetic and everything so synthetic.
In honor of these great writers, and in honor of you, our readers, who work tirelessly to create opportunities to get out into the natural wonderlands you so love and revere, we've brought you 15 of our favorite outdoors-related quotes from history's great writers and orators. May they inspire you to hop in your car, flee civilization, get as far into the middle of nowhere as you possibly can, and commune with all that this beautiful Earth has to offer.
Santa Cruz Mountains, CA - Photo Credit: Bryan Donoghue
"Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints."
“Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong.”
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”
“Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”
“The antidote to exhaustion isn’t rest. It’s nature.”
Grand Teton National Park, WY - Photo Credit: Scott Carnahan
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.”
“The wilderness holds answers to questions man has not yet learned to ask.”
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the Earth.”
"Believe one who knows; you will find something greater in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters."
Zion National Park, UT - Photo Credit: Falco Rodriguez
“Listen to the air. You can hear it, feel it, smell it, taste it. Woniya wakan—the holy air—which renews all by its breath. Woniya, woniya wakan—spirit, life, breath, renewal—it means all that. Woniya—we sit together, don’t touch, but something is there; we feel it between us, as a presence. A good way to start thinking about nature, talk about it. Rather talk to it, talk to the rivers, to the lakes, to the winds as to our relatives.”
“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”
"The Desert represents the place we all start; It is the beginning and the end of life."
“Some of us are drawn to mountains the way the moon draws the tide. Both the great forests and the mountains live in my bones. They have taught me, humbled me, purified me and changed me.”
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods. There is rapture on the lonely shore. There is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea and music in its roar. I love not man the less, but Nature more.”
Mount Lemmon: Tucson, AZ - Photo Credit: Bryan Donoghue
Special thanks to Pathloom Veteran and Wordsmith Extraordinaire, Scott Carnahan, for diligently keeping a repository of some of his favorite quotes he's been inspired by over the years and sharing many of them with us. You can find Scott's own amazing writing throughout the Pathloom Blog, or at Scottjcarnahan.com
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