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83543de Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters. words time river water Norman Maclean
8a80b63 Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them.. love Norman Maclean
4264123 We can love completely what we cannot completely understand. Norman Maclean
3f1ba43 My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him all good things-trout as well as eternal salvation-come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy. Norman Maclean
1f7e237 It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. Norman Maclean
068b8da One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful even if it is only a floating ash. Norman Maclean
c22f7b6 The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana. Norman Maclean
bb35b49 At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear. thoughts philosophy sunrise Norman Maclean
bd2211e In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. We lived at the junction of great trout rivers in western Montana, and our father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman who tied his own flies and taught others. He told us about Christ's disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the fa.. Norman Maclean
761725e Slowly we became silent, and silence itself if an enemy to friendship. silence friends friendship philosophy Norman Maclean
12cedb6 At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. You can love completely without complete understanding. Norman Maclean
de621bb Yet even in the loneliness of the canyon I knew there were others like me who had brothers they did not understand but wanted to help. We are probably those referred to as "our brother's keepers," possessed of one of the oldest and possible one of the most futile and certainly one of the most haunting instincts. It will not let us go." relationships people family philosophy Norman Maclean
5ad9f36 When I was young, a teacher had forbidden me to say "more perfect" because she said if a thing is perfect it can't be more so. But by now I had seen enough of life to have regained my confidence in it." Norman Maclean
d0c24c0 All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable which makes you see something you weren't noticing which makes you see something that isn't even visible. Norman Maclean
cd60c91 Many of us would probably be better fishermen if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect Norman Maclean
a8943bf Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut.. Norman Maclean
f5d980f So it is that we can seldom help anybody. Either we don't know what part to give or maybe we don't like to give any part of ourselves. Then, more often than not, the part that is needed is not wanted. And even more often, we do not have the part that is needed. Norman Maclean
91e15e7 Of course, now I am too old to be much of a fisherman, and now of course I usually fish the big waters alone, although some friends think I shouldn't. Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot R.. Norman Maclean
1c7f2dc I had as yet no notion that life every now and then becomes literature--not for long, of course, but long enough to be what we best remember, and often enough so that what we eventually come to mean by life are those moments when life, instead of going sideways, backwards, forward, or nowhere at all, lines out straight, tense and inevitable, with a complication, climax, and, given some luck, a purgation, as if life had been made and not hap.. literature purpose Norman Maclean
19cb55b As I get considerably beyond the biblical allotment of three score years and ten, I feel with increasing intensity that I can express my gratitude for still being around on the oxygen-side of the earth's crust only by not standing pat on what I have hitherto known and loved. While oxygen lasts, there are still new things to love, especially if compassion is a form of love. Norman Maclean
242be6f Unless we are willing to escape into sentimentality or fantasy, often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find out exactly what happened and restore some of the missing parts. Norman Maclean
f57e106 life every now and then becomes literature...as if life had been made and not happened. Norman Maclean
75f5cd7 I knew that, when needed, mountains would move for me. nature-writing Norman Maclean
00635ff It is very important to a lot of people to make unmistakably clear to themselves and to the universe that they love the universe but are not intimidated by it and will not be shaken by it, no matter what it has in store. Moreover, they demand something from themselves early in life that can be taken ever after as a demonstration of this abiding feeling. universe love Norman Maclean
4048dc0 As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God's rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty. Unlike many Presbyterians, he often used the word "beautiful." Norman Maclean
a0023f6 I, an old man, have written this fire report. Among other things, it was important to me, as an exercise for old age, to enlarge my knowledge and spirit so I could accompany young men whose lives I might have lived on their way to death. I have climbed where they climbed, and in my time I have fought fire and inquired into its nature. In addition, I have lived to get a better understanding of myself and those close to me, many of them now d.. Norman Maclean
add0162 When I looked, I knew I might never again see so much of the earth so beautiful, the beautiful being something you know added to something you see, in a whole that is different from the sum of its parts. What I saw might have been just another winter scene, although an impressive one. But what I knew was that the earth underneath was alive and that by tomorrow, certainly by the day after, it would be all green again. So what I saw because o.. revival renewal Norman Maclean
4ae4822 The hardest thing usually to leave behind, as was the case now, can loosely be called the conscience. Norman Maclean
7742449 I sat there and forgot and forgot, until what remained was the river that went by and I who watched... Eventually the watcher joined the river, and there was only one of us. I believe it was the river. Even the anatomy of a river was laid bare. Not far downstream was a dry channel where the river had run once, and part of the way to come to know a thing is through its death. But years ago I had known the river when it flowed through this no.. Norman Maclean
52cf0e8 To him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - came by grace; and grace comes by art; and art does not come easy Norman Maclean
237ece3 At the time I did not know that stories of life are often more like rivers than books. Norman Maclean
d41272d As a Scot and a Presbyterian, my father believed that man by nature was a mess and had fallen from an original state of grace. Somehow, I early developed the notion that he had done this by falling from a tree. As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God's rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty. Unlike many Presbyterians, he oft.. Norman Maclean
9f9d626 You like to tell true stories, don't you?' he asked, and I answered, 'Yes, I like to tell stories that are true.' Then he asked, 'After you have finished your true stories sometime, why don't you make up a story and the people to go with it? Only then will you understand what happened and why. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. Norman Maclean
73072f1 Probably most catastrophes end this way without an ending, the dead not even knowing how they died...,those who loved them forever questioning "this unnecessary death," and the rest of us tiring of this inconsolable catastrophe and turning to the next one." Norman Maclean
2020487 On the Big Blackfoot River above the mouth of Belmont Creek the banks are fringed by large Ponderosa pines. In the slanting sun of late afternoon the shadows of great branches reached from across the river, and the trees took the river in their arms. The shadows continued up the bank, until they included us Norman Maclean
82e8f7a They were still so young they hadn't learned to count the odds and to sense they might owe the universe a tragedy. Norman Maclean
9da526e Sunrise is the time to feel that you will be able to find out how to help somebody close to you who you think needs help even if he doesn't think. At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear inspiration sunrise Norman Maclean
c654490 A mystery of the universe is how it has managed to survive with so much volunteer help. universe volunteer survive Norman Maclean
8b1d715 If he comes back," she nodded. I thought I saw tears in her eyes but I was mistaken. In all my life, I was never to see her cry. And also he was never to come back. Without interrupting each other, we both said at the same time, "Let's never get out of touch with each other." And we never have, although her death has come between us." Norman Maclean
b5cb958 Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters. Norman Maclean
99a19a3 What a beautiful world it was once. At least a river of it was. Norman Maclean
5bb716d Ahead and to the west was our ranger station - and the mountains of Idaho, poems of geology stretching beyond any boundaries and seemingly even beyond the world. nature idaho landscape mountains geology Norman Maclean
9c9c9cb it is not fly fishing if you are not looking for answers to questions. Norman Maclean
9f479ed But first of all he is a woodsman, and you aren't a woodsman unless you have such a feeling for topography that you can look at the earth and see what it would look like without any woods or covering on it. It's something like the gift all men wish for when they or young-- or old-- of being able to look through a woman's clothes and see her body, possibly even a little of her character. woman topography woodsman Norman Maclean
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