Daniel J. Rice Quotes

He never cared too much for parties or people, but misanthropy could easily be cured by several alcoholic drinks.

— Daniel J. Rice

“It has always been my understanding that truth and freedom can only exist in wild places.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“I walked slowly to enjoy this freedom, and when I came out of the mountains, I saw the sky over the prairie, and I thought that if heaven was real, I hoped it was a place I never had to go, for this earth was greater than any paradise.”

— Daniel J. Rice

There are places which exist in this world beyond the reach of imagination.

— Daniel J. Rice

“If you have not touched the rocky wall of a canyon. If you have not heard a rushing river pound over cobblestones. If you have not seen a native trout rise in a crystalline pool beneath a shattering riffle, or a golden eagle spread its wings and cover you in shadow. If you have not seen the tree line recede to the top of a bare crested mountain. If you have not looked into a pair of wild eyes and seen your own reflection. Please, for the good of your soul, travel west.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“As the saturating colors of sun-life fade from sight, the ominous moon reaches out its long arm and applies the dark dyes of night.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“The mountains knew the definition of freedom. They provided a place where he could find his mind.”

— Daniel J. Rice

Sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind," she said with a hint
of sadness.
"You lost your mind a long time ago," he said seriously. She looked at him with indignation. "That's a compliment for anyone who knows the freedom and clarity of losing their mind," he reaffirmed her.

— Daniel J. Rice

“The trees show definitions of themselves subtly like the face of a man.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“Every falling leaf reminds me that I too will soon be separated from these trees. Trying to capture freedom is like trying to catch a falling leaf. Occasionally you may grab one out of the air and hold it in your hands, but now what?”

— Daniel J. Rice

“A man without enemies is a dishonest man.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“There was a wildness inside him; someday he would capture it. Not to be tamed, but to be released. For only by understanding his mind could it be freed.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“My hands are flowing like sunlight. The shapes and colors are astounding. I don't understand these images that are empowering me. My brush touches the canvas like photons to the earth, and a new world develops, free from my control, yet intrinsically dependent upon me. I am sweating with elation. I have no idea what I am doing, or what it is my hands are trying to see. There is so much strength in this clarity I am overpowered by the independence of it.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“The past and the future were starlight, seemingly so close, but forever out of reach.
Eli felt that starlight, the infinity of knowing nothing but his finite existence.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“It occurred to me that no words by the tongue of man can express the simplicities of a quiet land, so I returned to the river.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“This was going to be difficult, because he enjoyed women, but all the ones he has known seemed to be sent as secret assassins on a mission to destroy his pride and ability.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“What man does not seek the power of his dreams, and believe in his ability to match the grace of his illusions.”

— Daniel J. Rice

The truth of existence was a happiness separated from the easy happy life. There was music in the forest. There was clean air where nobody could hear him breathe.

— Daniel J. Rice

“Only lost photographs that were never taken know what my mind speaks of when we are alone together.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“I was disoriented by the idea that men should ever leave the forest.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“Today I am an unemployed writer living as a recluse in the great Northwoods.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“When I returned to camp, they walked behind me on the trail, and we spoke not a word about getting skunked today, but rather talked about the days we returned with a stringer full of fish, and how we filleted them and the left the guts out for bears and eagles, and how those fish tasted fresh when we fried them over a fire.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“The contemplative man always lives alone. Regardless of who may reside in his home, his is a solitary world.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“I watched the surrounding landscape with great curiosity, and I wanted to discover the words that could describe all its unspoiled beauty.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“I often wonder what happened to those few I spent my youth in battle beside, those select individuals whom I was drawn to simply by coincidence, whom I joined forces with against an unknown future and a world so large that we depended upon each other because none of us knew a damn thing, and we were all so wise.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“Returning to nature has been a dream present in the minds of every generation since mankind first left nature.”

— Daniel J. Rice

“We smoked fat cigars by the campfire and they tasted like wood and ash. The inhale and exhale was exciting. Blowing smoke rings in the calm forest air was followed by a deep swallow of cheap beer, and this too was exciting. There was no judgment in the wild, and so indulgences were plentiful. There were no regulators here and we were free to indulge in the deep intoxications that made our minds free.”

— Daniel J. Rice