As a final project to conclude Into The Wild I created a poster covered in some of Chris McCandless's favorite quotes. Most of them come from the works of Tolstoy and Henry David Thoreau, but there are also quite a few from Chris himself. These quotes help summarize why Chris did what he did, and how he felt.
“…but in reality nothing is
more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure feature.”
-Chris McCandless, p. 57
“You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from
human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and
anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against
our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.”
-Chris McCandless, p.57
“Rather than love, than money,
than fame, give me truth.”
-Henry David Thoreau, p. 117
“No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone
upon the land to become lost in the wild.”
-Chris McCandless, p.163
“I am reborn. This is my dawn. Real life has just begun.”
-Chris McCandless, p. 168
“And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children
perhaps-what more can the heart of a man desire?”
-Tolstoy, p. 169
“And then the two basic ideals of modern man-without them he is
unthinkable-the idea of free personality and the idea of life as a
sacrifice.
-Boris Pasternak, p.187
“Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness
of human eloquence...”
-passage from Doctor Zhivago, p. 189
“HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.”
-Chris McCandless, p. 189
“The true
harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the
tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the
rainbow which I have clutched”
-Henry David
Thoreau, p. 47
“You needed to
surrender to some such ultimate purpose more fully, more unreservedly than you
had ever done in the old familiar, peaceful days, in the old life that was now
abolished and gone for good.”
-Boris
Pasternak, p. 103
“I HAVE HAD A
HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD.
GOODBYE AND MAY
GOD BLESS ALL!”
-Chris
McCandless, p.199