“He closed his eyes and tried to shut out his thoughts. It would be better just to listen to the rain falling, to smell the pines and the wood smoke. They couldn’t take that from him–the memory of countless lonely fires built in countless lonely places, a memory that leaves a man with a taste for wild country.”      –Louis L’Amour (Under the Sweetwater Rim)

“The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.”      –Psalm 65:12 (NIV)

“Art comes from the man, not the material. The man of mastery, of genius, not only meets but exceeds the standards of excellence; he sets higher standards, opens new ground, and that man is an artist be he writer, painter, grave digger, bull-fighter, or bronc rider.”      –William Crawford (The Bronc Rider)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”      –Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

“Twilight fell. The stars came out white and clear. Night cloaked the valley with dark shadows and the hills with its obscurity. The blue vault overhead deepened and darkened. The hunter patrolled his beat, and hours were moments to him. He heard the low hum of insects, the murmur of running water, the rustle of the wind. A coyote cut the keen air with high-keyed, staccato cry. The owls hooted, with dismal and weird plaint, one to the other. Then a wolf mourned. But these sounds only accentuated the loneliness and wildness of the silent night.”      –Zane Grey (The Mysterious Rider)

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”      –Luke 5:16 (NIV)

“I had found that things sat a lot easier on a fellas mind if he only worried about those things he could do something about.”      –Lou Bradshaw (Blue)

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”      –Luke 12:25-26 (NIV)