Jan 24, 2008

Cool Quotes from Cool Cats

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

What if the spell of a place falls upon a youthful heart, and the bright horizon calls! Many a thing will keep till the world's work is done, and youth is only a memory. When the old enchanter came to my door, laden with dreams, I reached out with both hands. For I knew that he would not be lured with the gold that I might later offer, when age had come upon me. - Richard MacCullaugh

Life is something to be devoured because at any moment it might be snatched away. You just can't trust life. You have to seize it by the throat. You have to pursue your dreams relentlessly, recklessly. It is too much of a gamble to waste time. - John Kretschmer.

Two courses, by the chart, now lay before us: the open sea and an inside passage between successive islands and the mainland. The outside course was much longer, and dirty weather was in prospect. That was, however, was my choice, and being then at the tiller I headed seawards. -Rockwell Kent

Immerse yourself in the minutiae of [sailing] somewhere slowly and deliberately, while secretly hoping you'll never arrive. –Paul lutus.

Not all who wander are lost.

3 comments:

  1. My favorite has always been:

    "Only sailors get blown offshore"

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  2. Here is another:

    As humans we live with the constant presumption of dominion. We believe that we own the world, that it belongs to us, that we have it under our firm control. But the sailor knows all too well the fallacy of this view. The sailor sits by his tiller, waiting and watching. He knows he isn't sovereign of the earth and sky, any more than the fish in the sea or the birds in the air. He responds to the subtle shifting of the wind, the imperceptible ebbings of the tide. He changes course. He trims his sheets. He sails.

    --Richard Bode, "First you have to row a little boat"

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  3. I've heard that one by John Kretschmer before, it's a good one. I didn't know who said it, but I know I've read it somewhere because I specifically remember "grab life by the throat" and thinking, "ha, that's funny...I assumed they were going to say balls."

    -Audra

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