Quotes from Into the Wild

        Chris McCandless had many favorite authors and during his time on the road, he read from their work. Krakauer recorded the passages that Chris underlined or took notes on. Most of the quotes are about nature and the hands of society choking the spirit of man. McCandless probably liked these authors such as Tolstoy and Thoreau because their work reflected his own views and ideals. In his journaling, McCandless sounds very similar to the authors that he loved so much. If he had made it out of the Alaskan Wilderness alive, Chris would have most likely written a book about his own adventures, expressing his love for nature and his opinions of the modern man and society. Maybe he had hoped his work would inspire young adventurous hearts like Tolstoy and Thoreau had inspired him. It's truly tragic that Chris perished in Alaska, but Krakauer has made Chris's story known to the public, something Chris would probably appreciate.
      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