Jon Krakauer Quotes - Page 3

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According to the moral absolutism that characterizes McCandless's beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn't a challenge at all.

Jon Krakauer

Success, Moral Absolutism, Challenges

FaceBook post by Jon Krakauer from Jun 21, 2012

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Sometimes my need to love hurts-- myself, my family, my cause. Is there a cure? Of course. But I refuse. Refuse to stop loving, to stop caring. To avoid those tears, that pain...To err on the side of passion is human and right and the only way I'll live.

Jon Krakauer

Hurt, Pain, Passion

Jon Krakauer (2010). “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman”, p.111, Atlantic Books Ltd

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Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet.

Jon Krakauer

Oxygen, Ice, Wind

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into Thin Air: A personal account of the Everest disaster”, p.14, Pan Macmillan

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When Alex left for Alaska," Franz remembers, "I prayed. I asked God to keep his finger on the shoulder of that one; I told him that boy was special. But he let Alex die. So on December 26, when I learned what happened, I renounced the Lord. I withdrew my church membership and became an atheist. I decided I couldn't believe in a God who would let something that terrible happen to a boy like Alex.

Jon Krakauer

Atheist, Believe, Boys

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Heaven, for me, is one focused project - it's like a weird form of autism.

Jon Krakauer

Autism, Heaven, Projects

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I never studied writing, but I'd always been a reader and had a secret fantasy about being a writer.

Jon Krakauer

Writing, Secret, Fantasy

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He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. He was alone and young and wilful and wildhearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and brackish waters and the seaharvest of shells and tangle and veiled grey sunlight.

Jon Krakauer

Nature, Heart, Air

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into the Wild”, p.31, Pan Macmillan

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I love being outdoors, being in the mountains and the desert, and my wife enjoys that too. That's one of the things that sustain our relationship.

Jon Krakauer

Love Is, Wife, Mountain

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To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose. But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily.

Jon Krakauer

Meaning Of Life, Purpose, Path

"Into the Wild". Book by Jon Krakauer, 1996.

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Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th Century invention and I don't want one. You don’t need to worry about me; I have a college education. I’m not destitute. I'm living like this by choice.

Jon Krakauer

College, Thinking, Careers

"Fictional character: Alex". "Into the Wild", 2007.

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Antarctica is a very alien environment, and you can't survive here more than minutes if you're not equipped properly and doing the right thing all the time.

Jon Krakauer

Aliens, Environment, Minutes

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I think part of the appeal of Antarctica is experiencing some sort of power, the forces of the natural world.

Jon Krakauer

Thinking, World, Natural

"Krakauer in Antarctica". Interview with Liesl Clark, www.pbs.org. February 11, 2003.

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In climbing, having confidence in your partners is no small concern. One climber's actions can affect the welfare of the entire team.

Jon Krakauer

Team, Climbing, Action

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into Thin Air: A personal account of the Everest disaster”, p.36, Pan Macmillan

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Chris would use the spiritual aspect to try to motivate us. "He'd tell us to think about all the evil in the world, all the hatred, and imagine ourselves running against the forces of darkness, the evil wall that was trying to keep us from running our best. He believed that doing well was all mental, a simple matter of harnessing whatever energy was available.

Jon Krakauer

Running, Spiritual, Wall

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into the Wild”, p.87, Pan Macmillan

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Once you believe that God is speaking directly to you, there is no discussion.

Jon Krakauer

Believe, Discussion

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But [Everett] and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.

Jon Krakauer

Dream

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into the Wild”, p.96, Pan Macmillan

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The desert sharpened the sweet ache of his longing, amplified it, gave shape to it in sere geology and clean slant of light.

Jon Krakauer

Sweet, Light, Desert

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into the Wild”, p.33, Pan Macmillan

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<...> though he found that if you are stupid enough to bury a camera underground you won't be taking many pictures with it afterwards. Thus the story has no picture book for the period May 10, 1991 - January 7, 1992. But this is not important. It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it's great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you.

Jon Krakauer

Memories, Stupid, Real

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It was titillating to brush up against the enigma of mortality, to steal a glimpse across its forbidden frontier. Climbing was a magnificient activity, I firmly believed, not in spite of the inherent perils, but precisely because of them.

Jon Krakauer

Climbing, Glimpse, Stealing

FaceBook post by Jon Krakauer from Aug 23, 2014

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Unlike most of life, what you do really matters. Your actions have real consequences. You have to pay attention and focus, and that's very satisfying. It forces you to pay great attention and you lose yourself in the task at hand. Without the risk, that wouldn't happen, so the risk is an essential part of climbing, and that's hard for some people to grasp. You can't justify the risk when things go wrong and people die. The greater the risk, the greater the reward in most aspects of life, and in climbing that's certainly true, too. It's very physical, you use your mind and your body.

Jon Krakauer

Real, Hands, Climbing

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Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their loves. The bush is an unforgiving place, however, that care nothing for hope or longing.

Jon Krakauer

Thinking, Alaska, Long

"Into the Wild". Book by Jon Krakauer, 1996.

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When I start any book, I have no idea what I'm going to do.

Jon Krakauer

Book, Ideas, No Idea

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Now what is history? It is the centuries of systematic explorations of the riddle of death, with a view to overcoming death. That's why people discover mathematical infinity and electromagnetic waves, that's why they write symphonies.

Jon Krakauer

Writing, Views, Symphony

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into the Wild”, p.186, Pan Macmillan

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Children can be harsh judges when it comes to their parents, disinclined to grant clemency.

Jon Krakauer

Children, Judging, Parent

Jon Krakauer (2011). “Into the Wild”, p.122, Pan Macmillan

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I understood what he was doing, that he had spent four years fulfilling the absurd and tedious duty of graduating from college and now he was emancipated from that world of abstraction, false security, parents, and material excess.

Jon Krakauer

College, Years, Parent

"Into the Wild". Adventure, Biography, Drama, 2007.

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Born: April 12, 1954
Occupation: Writer
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