Lawyers are like nuclear weapons. By all rights they shouldn't exist, but if some people have them, then you'd better have one, too, just in case.

The solution to any problem -work, love, money, whatever -is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be.

I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution.

Maybe your stature as a fly fisherman isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed.

Cell phones have changed us from a nation of self-reliant pioneer types into a bunch of men standing alone in supermarkets saying, ‘Okay, I’m in the tampon aisle, but I don’t see it.'

I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't.

If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong.

The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them.

I still enjoy the company of most dogs more than that of most people, because dogs are capable of uncomplicated enthusiasm.

It's an odd fact of life that whichever side of the stream you're on, two-thirds of the best water is out of reach on the other side.

Creeps and idiots cannot conceal themselves for long on a fishing trip.

I get angry about things, then go on and work.

The man's emotions flowed back and forth like waves of the sea.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old seek what they sought.

You'll never be greater than yourself.

Broken bottles, broken plates, broken switches, broken gates. Broken dishes, broken parts, streets are filled with broken hearts.

I'm nothing special, just an ordinary human being. That's why I always describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk.

Think before you snack.

There are some people who have a low tolerance for criticism. I'm not one of those people.

It was maddening how your best friend could twist the knobs inside of you so much that it hurt.

Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.