There is nothing quite so gentle, deep, and irrational as running--and nothing quite so savage, so wild. Bernd Heinrich More Quotes by Bernd Heinrich More Quotes From Bernd Heinrich Conditions are seldom ideal, and if one waits long enough for ideal conditions one is just making excuses. Bernd Heinrich excusewaitinglong Movement is the essence of life. Bernd Heinrich movementessencerunning Running is perhaps the most fundamental of all sports, and it is economically the least costly to perform. As a consequence, it is the most democratic and most competitive of all sports because individual merit can prevail despite economic equality. It is a sport for everyone, the whole world over. Bernd Heinrich fundamentalsrunningsports We are social animals. We like to feel a part of something of beauty and power that transcends our insignificance. It can be a religion, a political party, a ball club. Why not also Nature? I feel a strong identity with the world of living things. I was born into it; we all were. But we may not feel the ties unless we gain intimacy by seeing, feeling, smelling, touching and studying the natural world. Trying to live in harmony with the dictates of nature is probably as inspirational as living in harmony with the Koran or the Bible. Perhaps it is also a timely undertaking. Bernd Heinrich partystronganimal Edward Abbey said you must brew your own beer; kick in you Tee Vee; kill your own beef; build your cabin and piss off the front porch whenever you bloody well feel like it. I already had a good start. As a teenager in rural Maine, after we came to America, I had learned hunting, fishing, and trapping in the wilderness. My Maine mentors had long ago taught me to make home brew. I owned a rifle, and I'd already built a log cabin. The rest should be easy. I thought I'd give it a shot. Bernd Heinrich teenagerbeerhome Barry L. Jacobs and colleagues from the neuroscience program at Princeton University showed that when mice ran every day on an exercise wheel, they developed more brain cells and they learned faster than sedentary controls. I believe in mice. Bernd Heinrich princeton-universityexercisebelieve For those that endure until spring, existence is reduced to its elegant essentials. Bernd Heinrich existenceessentialsspring The essential thing is to run period! Bernd Heinrich essentialsrunninglong The very idea of "managing" a forest in the first place is oxymoronic, because a forest is an ecosystem that is by definition self-managing. Bernd Heinrich ecosystemsselfideas Deep down we are all still runners Bernd Heinrich deep-downrunnersstills I do not yet want to form a hypothesis to test, because as soon as you make a hypothesis, you become prejudiced. Your mind slides into a groove, and once it is in that groove, has difficulty noticing anything outside of it. During this time, my sense must be sharp; that is the main thing - to be sharp, yet open. Bernd Heinrich slidesmindwant Spraying to kill trees and and raspberry bushes after a clear-cut merely looks unaesthetic for a short time, but tree plantations are deliberate ecodeath. Yet, tree planting is often pictorially advertised on television and in national magazines by focusing on cupped caring hands around a seedling. But forests do not need this godlike interference... Planting tree plantations is permanent deforestation... The extensive planting of just one exotic species removes thousands of native species. Bernd Heinrich cuttingcaringhands
