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

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.

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.

Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.

But Little League can be a great experience for kids, as long as they want to play--and don't play to bring their parents glory.

I've never done anything so political before. I've spent years shouting my mouth off about serious issues over dinner tables but never really had the confidence to express my views in a song.

I have much to learn of the Indian, nothing of the missionary.

I would want to see the Supreme Court reverse Citizens United and get dark, unaccountable money out of our politics.

It's a small town; everybody eats in the same cafe; everybody gets their hair cut in the same barber shop. That kind of community building, I think, begins to bridge those gaps.

I consider that my best performance ever was as Peer Gynt.

I'm amazed that anyone is interested in what I have to say.

Writing forces consciousness.

But there was only one truth about forever that really mattered, and that was this: it was happening.

The race isn't to the swift, it's to the thoughtful.