Quotes from A River Runs Through It

Norman Maclean ·  168 pages

Rating: (5.5K votes)


“The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“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. Then in the Arctic 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.
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 those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“So it is 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.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God's rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty. Unlike many Presbyterians, he often used the word "beautiful.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“The hardest thing usually to leave behind, as was the case now, can loosely be called the conscience.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It



“On the Big Blackfoot River above the mouth of Belmont Creek the banks are fringed by large Ponderosa pines. In the slanting sun of late afternoon the shadows of great branches reached from across the river, and the trees took the river in their arms. The shadows continued up the bank, until they included us”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“At sunrise, everything is luminous but not clear”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“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 those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


“That's how you know when you have thought too much-- when you become a dialogue between You'll probably lose and You're sure to lose.”
― Norman Maclean, quote from A River Runs Through It


About the author

Norman Maclean
Born place: in Clarinda, Iowa, The United States
Born date January 23, 1902
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“His gums stopped bleeding and his skin cleared up.”
― Graham Parke, quote from No Hope for Gomez!


“a man big enough to be humble appears more confident than the insecure man who feels compelled to call attention to his accomplishments. A little modesty goes a long way.”
― David J. Schwartz, quote from Magic of Thinking Big


“I think God made us to desire beauty. But I’m learning we have to first find our beauty in God.”
― Rachel Hauck, quote from Georgia on Her Mind


“The partisan wants to change the law, the criminal break it; the anarch wants neither. He is not for or against the law. While not acknowledging the law, he does try to recognize it like the laws of nature, and he adjusts accordingly.”
― Ernst Jünger, quote from Eumeswil


“I will protect you all the days of my life. You will be the mother of all who live and the giver of life to the seed spoken by the One -- the seed that will strike the offspring of the serpent. The One has said it, Isha...today I name you Havah, because you will live, and all who live will come from you, and you will give birth to hope.”
― Tosca Lee, quote from Havah: The Story of Eve


Interesting books

Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games
(3.3K)
The Marriage of Opposites
(40.4K)
The Marriage of Oppo...
by Alice Hoffman
Choices of One
(4.6K)
Choices of One
by Timothy Zahn
The Moth in the Mirror
(4.4K)
The Moth in the Mirr...
by A.G. Howard
The Complete Poems of Emily Bronte [with Biographical Introduction]
(2.6K)
The Complete Poems o...
by Emily Brontë
The Quest for Cosmic Justice
(762)
The Quest for Cosmic...
by Thomas Sowell

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.