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I CAN CAN U - Canoe Quotes

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Anna Jamieson, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada
"The voyageurs measure the distance by pipes. At the end of a certain time there is a pause, and they light their pipes and smoke for about five minutes, then the paddles go off merrily again, at the rate of about fifty strokes in a minute, and we absolutely seem to fly over the water. 'Trois pipes' are about twelve miles."
William H. H. Murray, "The Voice that Launched a Thousand Guide-Boats" in Paul F. Jamieson, ed. The Adirondack Reader
"...I stretched myself upon my bed of balsam-boughs, with Rover at my side, not twenty feet from the shore where the ripples were playing coyly with the sand; and lulled by the low monotone of the pines whose branches were my only shelter from the dew which gathered like gems upon their spear-like stems, sank, as a falling star fades from sight, into forgetfulness. And then the waking! The air fresh with the aroma of the wilderness. The morning blowing its perfumed breezes into your face..."
Wachusett, Boston Daily Advertiser, July, 1869
"I have spoken of the prevalence of the mosquitoes. With these must be included the black flies. Either these insects have not read Mr. Murray's book; or they have mislaid their almanac..."
Atwood Manley, Rushton and his Times in American Canoeing
"[The canoeist] likes the free swing of the paddle and its challenge to his skill. Above all, he likes to face forward. No explorer cares to back into new country. The posture of a quest is breast forward."
Nessmuk, Forest and Stream, July 21, 1880 [of the Wood Drake Canoe built for him by Rushton]
"She's all my fancy painted her, she's lovely, she is light.
She waltzes on the waves by day and rests with me at night."
Rushton to "Nessmuk,"1882
"Now you must stop with this one, don't try any smaller one. If you get sick of this as a Canoe use it for a soup dish."
From Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha, 1855
"Thus the Birch Canoe was builded
In the valley, by the river,
In the bosom of the forest;
And the forest’s life was in it,
All its mystery and its magic,
All the lightness of the birch-tree,
All the toughness of the cedar,
All the larch’s supple sinews;
And it floated on the river
Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, Like a yellow water-lily."
Henry David Thoreau
"Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing"
Wind in the Willows
There is nothing, absolutely nothing
Half so much worth doing
As simply messing about in boats.
Neil Hartling, Nahanni
"I like to tell our staff that guiding is ninety-five percent cooking, five-percent terror
Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Jeunesse etudiante catholique (Nov. 1944)
"...paddle 100 miles in a canoe and you are already a child of nature."
Link to some information from the Canadian Canoe Museum on this famous paddler [a former prime minister of Canada].
Jerry Dennis, From a Wooden Canoe
"Canoes are simply too small to accommodate clashing personalities....Try to be tolerant of others' opinions, but remember that once on the water you're a captive audience."
Jerry Dennis, From a Wooden Canoe
"We need quiet places, and we need quiet ways to travel in them. We never quite realize how valuable they are until we've been paddling, camping, and fishing in them for a few days. Once cleansed of the residue of daily living, it's possible to find what my son once called 'a calm spot' in your heart. It's a good thing to find."
(bumper sticker)
"Love many, trust a few, and always paddle your own canoe."
Paul Jamieson, Uneven Ground
"Sunday Rock is a link with our past and a hope for our future."
Paul Jamieson, Uneven Ground
"Restoring the waterways to the public is fundamental to preserving the cultural heritage of the Adirondacks. Moving waters carve museum galleries through the forest in which landforms and the community of plant, animal, and bird life are on display as nowhere else."
Bill McKibben, The Age of Missing Information
"You have to listen harder to the natural world so you can separate out the primal song from the songs of our civilization and from our static."

Links to Other Canoe Quotes

"Quote...Author". From the site: "all about canoes." A couple of dozen or so good quotes about canoes (a few are given above).

Canoe Quotes. A collection of quotes and some pictures from "Tripper Dave's Home-Page."

The Definative [sic] Paddling Addiction Page. Find here "30 ways to tell if you have been canoeing too long" (such as if "you kneel while watching TV") plus additional ones suggested by the readers of this page.

Des Plaines River Canoe Marathon: Quotes. A brief list of canoe quotes. Page Design by: George Jaros.

I CAN CAN U - Canoe Quotes

"I have spoken of the prevalence of the mosquitoes. With these must be included the black flies. Either these insects have not read Mr. Murray's book; or they have mislaid their almanac..."

"[The canoeist] likes the free swing of the paddle and its challenge to his skill. Above all, he likes to face forward. No explorer cares to back into new country. The posture of a quest is breast forward."

"She's all my fancy painted her, she's lovely, she is light. She waltzes on the waves by day and rests with me at night."

"Now you must stop with this one, don't try any smaller one. If you get sick of this as a Canoe use it for a soup dish."

"Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing"

There is nothing, absolutely nothing Half so much worth doing As simply messing about in boats.

"I like to tell our staff that guiding is ninety-five percent cooking, five-percent terror

"...paddle 100 miles in a canoe and you are already a child of nature."

"Canoes are simply too small to accommodate clashing personalities....Try to be tolerant of others' opinions, but remember that once on the water you're a captive audience."

"Love many, trust a few, and always paddle your own canoe."

"Sunday Rock is a link with our past and a hope for our future."

"Restoring the waterways to the public is fundamental to preserving the cultural heritage of the Adirondacks. Moving waters carve museum galleries through the forest in which landforms and the community of plant, animal, and bird life are on display as nowhere else."

"You have to listen harder to the natural world so you can separate out the primal song from the songs of our civilization and from our static."

Links to Other Canoe Quotes

"She's all my fancy painted her, she's lovely, she is light.
She waltzes on the waves by day and rests with me at night."

There is nothing, absolutely nothing
Half so much worth doing
As simply messing about in boats.