River Quotes to Know Before your Adventure

January 20, 2015

Compiled by Joe Ballant

River Quotes to Know Before your Adventure.

“A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself.”
― Laura Gilpin

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields, and we ask that they teach us and show us the way.

– (Chinook Blessing Litany)

“Rivers have what man most respects and longs for in his own life and thought- a capacity for renewal and replenishment, continual energy, creativity, cleansing.” – John Kauffmann, author

“There’s nothing…absolutely nothing…half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats.”-Kenneth Grahame, author

“In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy.” –John Sawhill

“As long as there are young men with the light of adventure in their eyes or a touch of wildness in their souls, rapids will be run.” – Sigurd F. Olson, writer

“Rivers are places that renew our spirit, connect us with our past, and link us directly with the flow and rhythm of the natural world.” – Ted Turner

“Wild rivers are earth’s renegades, defying gravity, dancing to their own tune, resisting the authority of humans, always chipping away, and eventually always winning.” – Richard Bangs, River Gods

“The song of the river ends not at her banks, but in the hearts of those who have loved her.” – buffalo joe

“You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.” – Heraclitus

“When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

“The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it.” – Chinese Philosopher

“We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all.  Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t.  You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” – Mark Twain.

“It is with rivers as it is with people: the greatest are not always the most agreeable, nor the best to live with.” – Henry van Dyke, author

“The sun shines not on us but in us.  The Rivers flow not past, but through us…” – John Muir

“The river has great wisdom and whispers its secrets to the hearts of men.” – Mark Twain

Joe Ballent found the river- or it found him –when he was only 16.  He began guiding with Holiday in 2008 and has enjoyed the unique privilege of getting involved with Holiday’s youth trips, including the University of Utah Hospital Burn Camp program.  Joe works with troubled teens full-time but manages to find trouble around the country and world in his freetime.  He is an outdoorsman by trade, a romantic by choice, a guitarist in a band, and an outlaw in Europe.