You can't be unhappy in the middle of a big, beautiful river. Jim Harrison More Quotes by Jim Harrison More Quotes From Jim Harrison We Americans are trained to think big, talk big, act big, love big, admire bigness but then the essential mystery is in the small. Jim Harrison mystery essentials thinking You touch things lightly or deeply; you move along because life herself moves, and you can’t stop it. Jim Harrison moving We set this house on fire forgetting that we live within. Jim Harrison fire house forget No one else can hold your hand or take this voyage of the soul for you. Jim Harrison encouraging soul hands I have closely noted that people who watch a great deal of TV never again seem able to adjust to the actual pace of life. The speed of the passing images becomes the speed the aspire to and they seem to develop an impatience and boredom with anything else. Jim Harrison boredom watches people The answer is always in the entire story, not a piece of it. Jim Harrison pieces stories answers Perhaps when we die our names are takenfrom us by a divine magnet and are freeto flutter here and there within the bodies of birds.I'll be a simple crowwho can reach the top of Antelope Butte.(From: Hard Times) Jim Harrison hard-times simple names The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is don't do it unless you're willing to give your whole life to it. Red wine and garlic also helps. Jim Harrison wine advice giving My advice is, do not try to inhabit another's soul. You have your own. Jim Harrison soul advice trying Suits obviously had helped to promote bad government and he was as guilty as anyone for wearing them so steadfastly for twenty years. Of late he had become frightened of the government for the first time in his life, the way the structure of democracy had begun debasing people rather than enlivening them in their mutual concern. The structure was no longer concerned with the purpose for which it was designed, and a small part of the cause, Nordstrom thought, was probably that all politicians and bureaucrats wore suits. Jim Harrison government people years It is utterly soothing to fly fish for trout. All other considerations or worries drift away and you couldn't keep them close if you wanted. Perhaps it's standing thigh deep in a river with the water passing at the exact but varying speed of life. You easily recognize this mortality and it dissipates into the landscape. Jim Harrison fishing sea lakes Wherever we go we do harm, forgiving ourselves as wheels do cement for wearing each other out. We set this house on fire, forgetting that we live within. (from "To a Meadowlark," for M.L. Smoker) Jim Harrison forgiving fire house It is easy to forget that in the main we die only seven times more slowly than our dogs. Jim Harrison dog easy forget Your kids inevitably want to move where they had their vacations when they were younger. Jim Harrison vacation kids moving I was on the verge of jumping into one of those holes in life out of which we emerge a bit tattered and bloody, though we remain sure nonetheless that we had to make the jump. Jim Harrison bloody holes jumping Strangely, when I totally emerged from this slump I couldn't comprehend how I had almost drowned it it. Jim Harrison slumps Dad said I would always be "high minded and low waged" from reading too much Ralph Waldo Emerson. Maybe he was right. Jim Harrison dad too-much reading Sometimes the only answer to death is lunch. Jim Harrison lunch answers sometimes I can maintain my sense of the sacredness of existence only by understanding my own limitations and losing my self-importance. Jim Harrison understanding losing self When we were children we were errant enough to wish to be birds for the day but there's nothing easier to lose than playfulness. Jim Harrison wish bird children