Into the Wild Quotes for Adventurous Spirits

These Into the Wild Quotes describe one man’s passion for travel, adventure and a life lived on his own terms.

Chris McCandless was an America that donated his entire college fund to charity, got rid of almost all of his material possessions and wandered off into the wild. An intelligent, determined character, McCandlesss was an avid reader of Tolstoy, London and Thoreau amongst others.

He travelled across the USA, ultimately trekking out into the Alaskan wilds, from which he never returned.

On September 6, 1992, a pair of moose hunters came across an old, rusted bus just outside of Denali National Park. A notable landmark of the area, the bus had served as a stopping point for travelers, trappers, and hunters for many years.

Inside they found the body of Chris McCandles inside his sleeping bag.

His death sparked a years-long investigation into his life, culminating in the 1996 Jon Krakauer book (and subsequent film) Into The Wild, which the following quotes are drawn from.

Into the Wild Quotes

“Happiness [is] only real when shared”

“The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.”

“The core of mans’ spirit comes from new experiences.”

“It’s not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong.”

“I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life.”

“make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt.

So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.”

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure.

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”

“At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence.”

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

“Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

“The sea’s only gifts are harsh blows, and occasionally the chance to feel strong.

Now I don’t know much about the sea, but I do know that that’s the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions.

Facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.”

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

“I’m going to paraphrase Thoreau here… rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness… give me truth.”

“That’s what was great about him. He tried. Not many do.”

“I now walk into the wild.”

What do you think of the story of Chris McCandles?

Try these nature, rewilding, Robert MacFarlane or Jack Keroauc quotes.