The endless, agonizing recycling of what might have been, soon followed by a litany of rationalizations and self-deceptions as you struggle to reconc… - Jon Krakauer

Launching a nice little war to divert national attention was a gambit no less appealing to nineteenth-century politicians than it is to their present-day counterparts.

La mia opinione è che non hai bisogno né di me né di nessun altro per portare questa gioia nella tua vita. È semplicemente lì che ti aspetta, che aspetta di essere afferrata, e tutto quello che devi fare è tendere la mano per prenderla. L'unica persona con cui combatti è te stesso e la tua testardaggine a non lanciarti in nuove esperienze.

"On July 2, McCandless finished reading Tolstoy's "Family Happiness", having marked several passages that moved him:
"He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others...

I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books , music, love for one's neighbor - such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire?" ..."