John Muir
Naturalist, Writer
"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt."
Hiking quotes
Hiking
338 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
John Muir
Naturalist, Writer
"Hiking - I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not hike! Do you know the origin of that word 'saunter?' It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre,' 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them.""
John Muir
Naturalist, Writer
"The mountains are calling and I must go."
Franz Kafka
Writer
"If it had been possible to build the Tower of Babel without climbing it, it would have been permitted."
Edward Abbey
Author, Environmentalist
"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside hiking — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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Hiking quotes (page 1 of 17)
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"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind."
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"The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk."
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"Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint."
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"Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road."
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"Take a walk on the wild side."
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"One way to get high blood pressure is to go mountain climbing over molehills."
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"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it."
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"Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb."
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"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer."
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"In my case Pilgrim's Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my hand to the little clod of earth that I am."
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"Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake."
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"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads."
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"Walks. The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird."
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"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings."
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"It is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot."
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"Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery."
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"Experience comes from bad judgment."
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"Going to the mountains is going home."
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"Every journey begins with a single step."
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"Walking takes longer... than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed."
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