Synopsis
A book about a family, it’s history and favourite hobby, fishing
A River Runs Through It
Page 3 – What is the chief end of man? And we answered together so one of us could carry on if the other forgot, Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. This always seemed to satisfy him, as indeed such a beautiful answer should have, and besides he was anxious to be on the hills where he could restore his soul and be filled again to overflowing for the evening sermon
Enjoy and glorify god, feel his love, and spread it. Do things with love, day in and day out
Page 11 – Perhaps we always wondered which of us was tougher, but, if boyhood questions aren’t answered before a certain point in time, they can’t never be raised again
Tensions remain and answered seldom
Page 33 – 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 so. At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear
Anything is possible at daybreak, as it is just before bed, its at the GUTS of it that requires work
Page 34 – 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 brothers keepers” possessed of one of the oldest and possibly one of the most futile and certainly one of the most haunting of instincts. It will not let us go.
To help those we care for the most, but we simply can’t, we can NOT do things for them
Page 44 – Many of us probably would be better fisherman if we did not spend so much time watching and waiting for the world to become perfect
Get on with it, the best time to strike is now
Page 50 – One of life’s great excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful, even if its only a floating ash
Like cooking a beautiful meal or making something from scratch
Page 93 – Help, he said, is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs and badly. So it is, he said, 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. It is like the auto supply shop over in town where they always say, sorry, we are just out of that part.
It’s almost impossible to help people especially those we care about the most.
Page 117 – You can love completely without complete understanding
Unconditional love
Page 117 – Do you think I could of helped him? How can a question be answered that asks a lifetime of questions?
There is no answer to some of life’s most meaningful questions.
Page 119 – 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. And so it is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.
Like reaching out to touch something in a dream
Logging and Pimping and “Your Pal, Jim”
Page 127 – I suppose that an early stage in coming to hate someone is just running out of thing to talk about. Slowly we became silent, and silence itself is an enemy to friendship
So true, that tensions builds up
Page 128 – It was rule I had learned my first year working in the forest service- when exhausted and feeling sorry for yourself, at least change your socks
Always do something for yourself when feeling bad, change clothes, have a shower, go for a massage, do something to feel better.
Final Thoughts
One of the best books I’ve read. A book about something that’s really about something deeper, loving and caring for those we most care about. It’s also about close male relationships as well as fly fishing in the North West USA. It’s a book that stays with me. 9/10
Stranger in Sydney 