"Quotes from 'A River Runs Through It' by Norman Maclean resonate like the soothing rhythm of a flowing river, offering profound insights into the human condition and the beauty of nature. This literary masterpiece, set against the backdrop of the rugged Montana wilderness, encapsulates the timeless wisdom of fly fishing and the complex bonds of family. As we embark on a journey through the eloquent words of Maclean, we are drawn into a world where the river serves as both a metaphor for life's journey and a conduit for self-discovery. In this exploration of 'Quotes From A River Runs Through It,' we will delve into the profound lessons, deep reflections, and poetic eloquence that have made this novella a beloved classic."
Quotes From A River Runs Through It (2024)
Discover the eloquent and timeless wisdom woven into the fabric of 'A River Runs Through It' with this curated collection of some unique quotes from the iconic novella:
"In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it."
"All good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy."
"Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar."
"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?"
"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."
"There is no clear line between religion and fly fishing."
"It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us."
"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."
"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."
"Help, Lord, for I am lost. I know not what I do."
"Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are dead, but I still reach out to them."
"I am haunted by waters."
"It is a world where rivers change their courses and where in the dark, the wind blows the willows about and silences the eremites who say nothing about silence."
"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."
"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."
"I sat there for a long time, and through the magic of television, watched my brother's life pass by in about two hours."
"At sunrise, everything is luminous but not clear."
"The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time."
"All good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy."
"I was never a good judge of weather."
"In the part of Montana I come from, you don't say anything unless you're prepared to back it up."
"We can love completely what we cannot completely understand."
"Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts."
"It is hard to have patience with people who say, 'There is no death' or 'Death doesn't matter.' There is death. And whatever is matters."
"Now nearly all those I loved and did not understand in my youth are dead, even Jessica."
"The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana."
"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?'"
"After you have come to know the extent of your own ignorance, your admission of it is the first step in your education."
"When I am alone in the half-light of the canyon, all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul and memories of the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm, and the hope that a fish will rise."
"If our father had had his way, nobody who did not know how to fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching him."
"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."
"We were not completely bound by our love for one another."
"My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. 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."
"There is no darker stain upon a family history than a quarrel."
"All good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace."
"Brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit by postponing it pretend."
"The only half-hearted apologies I ever received were from a child."
"It is not fly fishing if you are not looking for answers to questions."
"All good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace."
"There are many things we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up."
"In the river, I felt the mystery of existence."
"There is no time in life for anything important you must hurry."
"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."
"I met a veteran of World War I who was missing an arm and a leg and I asked him if he would do it over again, knowing the outcome."
"My father was a fisherman, and I was the son who held the net."
"I sat there for a long time listening to the river and remembering."
"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."
"Help… is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly."
"Teach him to pray, and then he'll know how to fish."
"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."
"Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it."
"The woods were made for the hunter of dreams."
"We can love completely without complete understanding."
"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."
"I was haunted by a dark loneliness."
"But you can't catch fish if you don't keep your line in the water."
"I wanted to follow them to talk about how lonely it can be out in the hills. But I knew I would have been wrong."
"It is hard to understand how anyone who knows the woods could ever be lonely in them."
"Long ago, when I was a boy, I used to listen with concentrated attention to the murmuring of a small brook."
"When I am alone in the half-light of the canyon, all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul, and memories. And the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River, a river I have fished and loved for forty years."
"I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what mountain climbing is all about. But in a difficult and exacting art, knowing when to stop is even more important than trying to excel."
"It is hard to have patience with people who say 'There is no death' or 'Death doesn't matter.' There is death. And whatever it is matters."
"Help, and you will be helped."
"It is hard to understand a man who does not fish."
"There is no greater gift than the gift of time."
"I told him about the river and our fishing and about our life in the woods."
"The world is full of people who will go their whole lives and not actually live one day."
"All the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again and rise up."
"I sat there and forgot and forgot until what remained was the river that went by and I who watched."
"They said that on the ridges above the rivers there were piles of bones."
"They were of the earth, earthy."
"You may be proud, wise, and fine, but death will wipe you off the face of the earth as though you were no more than mice burrowing under the floor, and your posterity, your history, your immortal geniuses will burn or freeze together with the earthly globe."
"My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe."
"Do not tell fish stories where the people know you."
"The water was not overly warm, but after we had been sitting still for a few minutes in the sun it was a glorious feeling."
"I knew their every swirl, their every rhythm."
"All is merged into one, and a river runs through it."
"Now the river runs through me."
"I had on the new clothes."
"In the 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."
"The moment of impact was colossal."
"My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe."
"I was young and I thought I was tough."
"Long ago, when I was a young man, my father said to me…"
"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?'"
"Help … is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly."
"I learned more about love, selflessness, and human understanding from the people I have met in this great adventure in the world of fly fishing than from anything else I have ever done."
"It is hard to catch the ones we love."
"The river was not to them just water, but was to them a river, a living thing, a friend."
"Eventually, all things merge into one and a river runs through it."
"As time passes, each player must find out for himself as to just how wide his limits are."
"Help, I will always believe, is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly."
"All good things come by grace, and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy."
"Brother Paul and I both knew that a drink from the river, any river, could cure almost anything."
"After you have finished your true stories sometime, why don't you make up a story and the people to go with it?"
"The waters are strange, but in time we will come to understand them."
"My father's voice, to me anyway, became even more important than it had been when he was living."
"I sat there and forgot and forgot, until what remained was the river that went by and I who watched. On the river, the heat mirages danced with each other and then they danced through each other and then they joined hands and danced around each other."
"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."
"My father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman in Scotch Presbyterian country in the days when it was against the law to fish on Sunday."
"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."
"I knew that in the back of his mind, I was his little brother. My big brother Paul was fishing partner. My father said to me, 'You like to write stories?' 'Yes, sir,' I said, because I did, and there was nothing my father liked to do more than tell stories."
"We liked the works of fiction we read to have three things: love, death, and fishing. We preferred stories about the West where the rivers were clean and flowed through green valleys."
"Now, nearly all those I loved and did not understand when I was young are dead, and I still reach out to them."
"I think a man's highest calling is to inspire his children to reach for more than they thought they were capable of."
"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."
"My father's friends and the ministers and the deacons of his church liked to fish, and they liked to tell stories. My father told stories that related to our life as we knew it in the old Presbyterian fishing country of western Montana."
"Eventually, all things merge into one and a river runs through it."
In the flowing narrative of "A River Runs Through It," we are gently guided through the currents of life, where the art of fly fishing serves as a metaphor for the intricate interplay of family, faith, and the indomitable force of nature. As we have journeyed through these unique quotes from the heart of the Maclean brothers' story, we have discovered the profound wisdom, nostalgia, and insight that permeates their world. These words, like the ripples in a pristine river, continue to resonate with readers and moviegoers alike, reminding us of the enduring power of storytelling to capture the essence of the human experience.
