I struggled to think pure thoughts, as Hector sucked out my psyche with his eyes.

Any man who has ever led an army, an expedition, or a group of Boy Scouts has sadism in his bones.

If hot food is they key to maintaining an expedition's stamina, then low grade gut-rot alcohol is the key to sustaining its sense of pleasure.

The forest did not tolerate frailty of body or mind. Show your weakness, and it would consume you without hesitation.

There comes a stage at which a man would rather die cleanly by a bullet than by the unknown terror of the phantom in the forest.

I was no longer troubled when he pulled out a machete in a crowded bar, tried to pick up schoolgirls, or threatened to scalp us, then rip off our heads and scoop out our brains.

Previous journeys in search of treasure have taught me that a zigzag strategy is the best way to get ahead.

The inertia of a jungle village is a dangerous thing. Before you know it your whole life has slipped by and you are still waiting there.

The rain of Madre de Dios is similar to that of the Amazon, but there is a petrifying aspect to it, as if it seeks to wound rather than to nurture.

On a hard jungle journey nothing is so important as having a team you can trust.

On a harsh expedition, there's no space for anyone who does not intend to finish.

Hard work and righteousness are important to God

I couldn’t decide whether it was better to be the art, or the artist.

It had become their creation, and they all would know it.

I work on my voice through what I have to sing.

No marriage is "too dead" for the Lord to restore.

When you say 'Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime!' that's not what the child hears. What the child hears is 'Lie down in the dark... for hours... and don't move... I'm locking the door now.'

At 57, to have a No. 1 album, I wasn't expecting it.

If we communicated with something like music, we would never be misunderstood, because there is nothing in music to understand.

In one way, I'm sympathetic to the institutional reluctance to face the music. I'd give a lot to mark my weight to 'model' rather than to 'market.'

He took her up in his arms in the way of a bachelor who has had amateur experience of the carrying of nieces.