Running an expedition can bring out the worst in a man. It can make you a power-crazed monster.

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.

Find your own joy within and then greater joy will be added to you.

Just as the Bible is God’s written Word, so Jesus is God’s living Word.

Life is sad. Here is someone.

I leaned back and glimpsed the stars, the same stories again but written in the sky.

I lived and languished.

They are raised on high that they may be dashed to pieces with a greater fall.

Right, left, Greens, Baathists, whatever: it comes down to grabbing and holding power and using ideology - or religion, race - as a justification.

If all human beings understood history, they might cease making the same stupid mistakes over and over.

You can find the way by yourself naturally, you just need a guide to tell you to be careful, to not do this to impress people, just follow your instincts.

In the soil of the quick fix is the seed of a new problem, because our quiet wisdom is unavailable.