I moved at age 22 to Montana to be able to walk in really wild woods, where the chances of being killed… — Michael Finkel Age Copy Share Image
I never do formal interviews. I don't use a tape recorder. I take notes but occasionally. — Michael Finkel Interview Copy Share Image
“Two of life’s greatest pleasures, by my reckoning, are camping and reading—most gloriously, both at once.” — Michael Finkel Greatest pleasures Copy Share Image
“The life inside a book always felt welcoming to Knight. It pressed no demands on him, while the world of human interactions… — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
“Knight's disdain for Thoreau was bottomless - 'he had no deep insight into nature'...” — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
“Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching (I recommend the Red Pine translation), and started swimming from there. Excellent” — Michael Finkel Heaven and earth Copy Share Image
Not to get too maudlin, but I think all mistakes are tests for one's mettle. — Michael Finkel Failure Copy Share Image
“Those with less become content,” says the Tao, “those with more become confused.” The” — Michael Finkel Confused Copy Share Image
“Knight, of course, felt that anyone's willing assistance tainted the whole thing. Either you are hidden or you're not, no middle ground.… — Michael Finkel Alone Copy Share Image
“I have only in my life carried to an extreme what you have not dared to carry halfway, and what’s more, you… — Michael Finkel Cowardice Copy Share Image
“Virtually every natural feature in Maine, pond to peak, has a proper name, but Knight saw such titles as human impositions and… — Michael Finkel Maine Copy Share Image
“Our whole lives, Jefferies said, are wasted traveling in endless small circles; we are all “chained like a horse to an iron… — Michael Finkel Life Copy Share Image
I firmly believe that if we all just took a little time - like 10 or 15 minutes a day - to… — Michael Finkel Believe Copy Share Image
“Japanese researchers at Chiba University found that a daily fifteen-minute walk in the woods caused significant decreases in cortisol, along with a… — Michael Finkel Blood pressure Copy Share Image
“He has seen the bottomless nonsense of our world and has decided, like most of us, to simply try to tolerate it.… — Michael Finkel Rational Copy Share Image
There have always been hermits: people who want to get away from other humans. Literally, some of the first extant books and… — Michael Finkel Alone Copy Share Image
“He was never once bored. He wasn’t sure, he said, that he even understood the concept of boredom. It applied only to… — Michael Finkel Art of life Copy Share Image
“He pilfered a copy of Ulysses, but it was possibly the one book he did not finish. 'What's the point of it?… — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
“One’s desire to be alone, biologists have found, is partially genetic and to some degree measurable. If you have low levels of… — Michael Finkel Hormone Copy Share Image
“The first great literary work about solitude, the Tao Te Ching, was written in ancient China, likely in the sixth century B.C.,… — Michael Finkel Solitude Copy Share Image
“Perceptive and valuable personal explorations of time alone include A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland, Party of One by Anneli Rufus,… — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
“Not for a moment did he consider keeping a journal. He would never allow anyone to read his private thoughts; therefore, he… — Michael Finkel Honest Copy Share Image
“In eighteenth-century England, a fad swept the upper class. Several families felt their estate needed a hermit, and advertisements were placed in… — Michael Finkel Family Copy Share Image
“With his release imminent, Knight seems more unsettled than ever. He scratches furiously at his knees. Jail, he's realized, might not be… — Michael Finkel Bad Copy Share Image
I committed pretty much the worst thing you can do, which is defraud the readers. — Michael Finkel Books Copy Share Image
I'd lied many times: to bolster my credentials, to elicit sympathy, to make myself appear less ordinary. — Michael Finkel Less Copy Share Image
“Everyone dreams of dropping out of the world once in a while. Then you get in the car and drive back home.” — Michael Finkel Dreams Copy Share Image
“life isn’t about searching endlessly to find what’s missing; it’s about learning to live with the missing parts.” — Michael Finkel Learning Copy Share Image
My fight-or-flight mechanism... had served me well in Gaza, in Afghanistan, and all the places I'd been. — Michael Finkel Afghanistan Copy Share Image
“The only book Knight didn't steal was the one he most often saw. 'I had no need for a Bible,' he said.” — Michael Finkel Bible Copy Share Image
I'm always theoretically opposed to capital punishment as a matter of policy; like, I don't believe a state should put its citizens… — Michael Finkel Always Copy Share Image
“survive, and neither do the strong. Life is a constant, merciless fight that everyone loses.” — Michael Finkel Life Copy Share Image
“Noise harms your body and boils your brain. The word "noise" derives from the Latin word nausea.” — Michael Finkel Nausea Copy Share Image
“reaching through time and speaking directly to him: Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground. “I recognize myself” — Michael Finkel Dostoyevsky Copy Share Image
“Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, wrote that nothing can be expressed about solitude “that has not already been said better by the… — Michael Finkel Pine trees Copy Share Image
“The fact that Longo himself was a skilled liar seemed to engender in him an ancillary condition in which he was distrustful… — Michael Finkel Distrustful Copy Share Image
My advice for telling someone else's story is to try not to consciously bend the story in any particular direction - to… — Michael Finkel Advice Copy Share Image
Modern life, especially with young children, so often seems like a mad rush... We so rarely take time to just do nothing… — Michael Finkel Children Copy Share Image
I spent most of my youth in Montana, where there are long, cold winters, but Maine has the coldest winters you could… — Michael Finkel Cold Copy Share Image
I tend to be a fairly spirited person, but I've never hated anyone more than I hated Christian Longo after his trial,… — Michael Finkel Duped Copy Share Image
