I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth.

Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.

It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it.

What if I were smiling and running into your arms? Would you see then what I see now?

Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one.

I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong... to measure yourself at least once.

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.

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

Happiness [is] only real when shared

When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God’s light shines upon you.

I don’t want to know what time it is. I don’t want to know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters.

The good thing about the aristocracy – German or English – was that they were easily traced, Mirabelle thought.

To speak only one language is to do yourself a great injustice.

A quality education grants us the ability to fight the war on ignorance and poverty.

I love music, and a lot of it. Jazz is probably on the top with guys like Miles Davis. But I even enjoy music from the '60s and '70s.

I believe in one, incomprehensible God, the immortality of the soul and eternal retribution for our acts.

Our speech has its weaknesses and its defects, like all the rest. Most of the occasions for the troubles of the world are grammatical.

History will tell the story, America will always stand.

Parents who wonder where the younger generation is going should remember where it came from.

Chemistry on film is like chemistry in real life, it's either there or it isn't.

Why leave when you can stay, why stay if you have to go