But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world.
But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear anything but praise.
You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.
It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.
Hey Guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you. ALEXANDER.
Happiness [is] only real when shared.
According to the moral absolutism that characterises McCandless’s beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn’t a challenge at all.
He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others...
I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor – such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps – what more can the heart of a man desire?
The desert sharpened the sweet ache of his longing, amplified it, gave shape to it in sere geology and clean slant of light.
I was dimly aware that I might be getting in over my head. But that only added to the scheme’s appeal. That it wouldn’t be easy was the whole point.
I thought climbing the Devil's Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing. But I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.