Quotables: Jon Krakauer
[ 30 November 2009 ]
“Make a radical change in your lifestyle & begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances & yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, & conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, & hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new & different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security & adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning & its incredible beauty.” — Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild.
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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I love this! It’s about time I stretched my wings a bit!
I bet we all could benefit by following this advice a little more in our lives. :)
Love,
Jaime
denimdebutante.com
Gorgeous quote and stunning pic
Actually, this quote is from a letter by Chris McCandless, reproduced in the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. Great quote, but let’s not forget McCandless starved to death in an Alaskan national forest, which wasn’t exactly the idea!
one of those quotes that smacks you upside the head with its truth. very nice. happy monday! =]
Such a great book about a beautiful life. I could use a little more Alexander Supertramp in my way of looking at and going about things.
This is super inspirational, thanks for sharing
xo
Thank you so much for posting this quotation! I’m working on an interior design project for school, and this quotation completely sums up what my design is about! I might just have to include it someone in my final presentation. :)
And by “someone” I mean “somewhere”. Brain fart! XD Clearly I was too distracted by the awesome quotation that my ability to speak English went out the window. haha.
Great quote! Where did you get the photo from? It’s beautiful and I’d love to see more from whoever took it.
Love Love Love ♥
I love Into The Wild(film and book)
It’s a really wise quote.thanks for sharing.
@india I believe Chris McCandless set out what he wanted to do living on the land. Yes it died from eating the wrong plant but he made a bold move.
McCandless died not because of the views he wrote about in his letter, but because he lacked common sense. I personally think it’s a beautiful quote.
Yes!!! This is just what I needed right now, thankyou. And that photo is devine xx
Ooh this is good, I’m going to write it down! Wherever do you find these fabulous quotes my dear?
x
Gosh, he’s brilliant, isn’t he? It’s always fantastic to find a great creative non-fiction writer like him.
I love Into the Wild too! Great quote, but just everyone remember not to eat any poisonous potato root while being adventurous…
Wow! My best friend and I were discussing how because of the “security” factor, we aren’t doing the things we wish we could be doing! I needed this quote, so thank you for sharing!
Ok confession:
As a rule follower myself, someone who likes to have teacups and seperate coffee cups, As a control freak that sometimes goes a bit to far in her setting of ways, I can only say that on the days that i dare myself to get into something new, try and sometimes i fail but the experience enriches me and makes me feel more confident to take another bold move and it makes you feel on top of the world.
True happiness is found in those moments that you let yourself go.
Chris McCandless made the choice of living a life full of adventure, passion to live the way he wanted. By mistake he ate the wrong parts of a poisonous plant and he died and yes if he was better prepared his life would have turned out differently. But i feel uncomfortable by saying (judging) him for his choices, his mistakes and his life.
This quote has made me bump up Into the Wild on my to read list. Possible new motto? I think so.
that is amazing…that will be on my mind all day!!
but now i can’t help wondering what it is exactly that can keep my horizon ever-changing, or is it already? i think it might be coz the future is so uncertain for me right now. i have very little idea of what next year will hold, as i’m starting university, will be living out of home part-time and will be introduced to a totally different lifestyle!
wow you’ve got me thinking :)
I need to read that book! :)
Maybe during christmas?
Ahh, I adore this book. Thank you :)
Perfect, perfect timing. I’ve had a self-hating day and have been sitting thinking that there’s nothing I can do about it. Thanks for the much needed motivation as always :)
I think I’d like this book more if I hadn’t had to read it for English and do over thirty pages of annotations on it. xD
Anyway, I really like this photo on the top, it strikes me for some reason.
Thanks for the quote. I’ve been following your blog for about a year now and I think it’s one of the most inspiring blogs that I ever found.
I recently went away to school and having problems meeting people because I’m really shy. I think I’m going to take a chance and pursue people and not wait for them to talk to me. :)
I am printing this out right now to stick into my 2010 diary! Amazing.
I really needed to read this right now and like Penelope I’m printing it out and putting it in my office at work to remind myself daily!
Oh my, I loved this book a few years ago. Strong recollections of reciting this passage out loud, wildly drunk on bourbon in the courtyard of our local pub, to a boy I loved at the time and an audience of barflies. Wow, I’d forgotten all about that.
Thank you for the reminder! (both quote and personal!)
YES! YES YES!
LOVE!!!!
pure genius. such a profound, and TRUE statement. makes me want to pack up and move to nyc.
I love the picture and the quote.
And I just watched the movie last week.
Fate? I think so.
Well I’m very much flying by the seat of my pants at the mo, but that saying sort of sums my life up at the moment. Thanks for sharing!
I love that quote. I just had it on my Tumblr! So amazing. Hope you had a good day Gala.
I loved the movie “Into the Wild,” I must read the book next. I think Christopher McCandless was a courageous soul, unlike a lot of people who think he was a fool ha
Love this so much. It has set the mood for my day now!
uh, chya! (like the way they say it in wayne’s world)
everything awesome that’s happened to me lately is directly related to me doing something that scared me at first. this is great advice.
also,
wearing killer boots and tights ripped in all the right places doesn’t hurt.
The stuff that scares you the most is the most rewarding when done. I went cliff jumping this summer and for about a week following I had adrenline rush. I decided to go to Paris on my own and in the process was forced to come out of my shell. Thanks for putting up this quote and reminding us to challenge ourselves.
Yes, yes, YES!
Ohmigod, Gala…I cannot tell you how true this is.
In the past year, I’ve dropped out of a PhD program, backpacked across Europe, moved across country, found a job I love in a shit economy and so many other things I was always too afraid to do simply because I finally dared to take a risk.
I feel like I need to print this quote and put it on my wall just as a reminder. Thank you. :-)
Gala,
You always know what I’m thinking! I just started redoing somethings to day, focusing on my health and future and this just put it all into perspective and motivated me even more!
fuck i love that book
This is a great quote, but it took me AGES to write in my moleskine with my sore Overused writing hand!
McCandless was a courageous person, and though he died in the Alaskan wilderness it proves that in order to fully encounter, experience & love LIFE; there has to be a part of you that is scared of losing it but just do what you love doing anyway.
Jess – can I ask, what happened with the boy? was he wildly impressed?! hehe!
so apt. I’m finally taking steps to find bandmates which scares me senseless. You can’t spent your life dreaming though :) xxx
This letter Chris wrote is probably one of my favorite pieces of writing ever, I try to tell everyone I know to read this book. It’s inspiring and life changing. You can’t read that and not make a change for the better.
yah .. surely makes a lot of sense,
plus Helter Skelter being the title of a Beatles’ song makes a lot easier to apprenciate.
But in some way, security is my kinda wish for this xmas. s e c u r i t y ..sounds so good to me, right now.
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