--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I started out thinking of America as…" description: "\"I started out thinking of America as highways and state lines. As I got to know it better, I began to think of it as rivers.\" — Charles Kuralt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/charles-kuralt-7624_america_i-started-out-thinking-of-america-as-hig_2381009.png" --- # I started out thinking of America as highways and state… ![“I started out thinking of America as highways and state lines. As I got to know it better, I began to think of it as rivers.” quote by Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/charles-kuralt-7624_america_i-started-out-thinking-of-america-as-hig_2381009.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/charles-kuralt-7624_america_i-started-out-thinking-of-america-as-hig_2381009.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cd/charles-kuralt-7624_america_i-started-out-thinking-of-america-as-hig_2381009.png) > “I started out thinking of America as highways and state lines. As I got to know it better, I began to think of it as rivers.” [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker’s perception shifts from seeing America as a network of roads to viewing it as flowing, interconnected rivers, reflecting deeper understanding. **In simple terms:** He now sees America as interconnected rivers rather than roads. Key Takeaway Embrace fluid, interconnected perspectives. Themes perception identity narrative Mood thoughtful inspired Type metaphorical observational When to use this quote - travel writing - urban planning - environmental policy - education curricula Key Concepts geography systems thinking Questions to Reflect On - How does this metaphor change your view of community? - What does the river symbolize in society? A Different Perspective Seeing America as rivers may overlook the importance of infrastructure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Highways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highways/) [Memorable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memorable/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Rivers and water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers-and-water/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [White water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-water/) ## Related quotes > [Rivers run through our history and folklore, and link us as a people… We are a nation rich in rivers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/rivers-run-through-our-history-and-folklore-and-link-us-as-a-people-2/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Rivers run through our history and folklore, and link us as a people. They nourish and refresh us and provide a home for dazzling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/rivers-run-through-our-history-and-folklore-and-link-us-as-a-people/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-culbreath-noel/the-first-river-you-paddle-runs-through-the-rest-of-your-life-it/) [Lynn Culbreath Noel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-culbreath-noel/) > [I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water... has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roderick-haig-brown/i-have-never-seen-a-river-that-i-could-not-love-moving-water-has-a/) [Roderick Haig-Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roderick-haig-brown/) > [. . . the time has also come to identify and preserve free-flowing stretches of our great rivers before growth and development make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/the-time-has-also-come-to-identify-and-preserve-free-flowing/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/a-river-is-more-than-an-amenity-it-is-a-treasure/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Swift or smooth, broad as the Hudson or narrow enough to scrape your gunwales, every river is a world of its own, unique in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marshall/swift-or-smooth-broad-as-the-hudson-or-narrow-enough-to-scrape-your/) [Bob Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marshall/) > [When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/when-you-put-your-hand-in-a-flowing-stream-you-touch-the-last-that/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Rivers must have been the guides which conducted the footsteps of the first travelers. They are the constant lure, when they flow by our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/rivers-must-have-been-the-guides-which-conducted-the-footsteps-of-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [America's highways, roads, bridges, are an indispensable part of our lives. They link one end of our nation to the other. We use them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dodd/america-s-highways-roads-bridges-are-an-indispensable-part-of-our/) [Christopher Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dodd/) > [“lets run away, cross state lines.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-taylor/lets-run-away-cross-state-lines/) [Brooke Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-taylor/) > [There are air-quality issues that cross state lines. There are water-quality issues, obviously, that cross state lines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-pruitt/there-are-air-quality-issues-that-cross-state-lines-there-are-water/) [Scott Pruitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-pruitt/) > [“I have a problem with state lines, anyway. They interrupt things. They fragment ecosystems, which are nature's most gracious and logical land divisions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mccoy/i-have-a-problem-with-state-lines-anyway-they-interrupt-things-they/) Michael McCoy > [I was rejected a lot in the early days - I think I heard the word 'no' nine times - and I began to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cafu/i-was-rejected-a-lot-in-the-early-days-i-think-i-heard-the-word-no/) [Cafu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cafu/) ## More by Charles Kuralt > [My parents encouraged me in everything I ever wanted to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/my-parents-encouraged-me-in-everything-i-ever-wanted-to-do/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/you-can-find-your-way-across-this-country-using-burger-joints-the-way/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I did stories about unexpected encounters, back roads, small towns and ordinary folk, sometimes doing something a little extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-did-stories-about-unexpected-encounters-back-roads-small-towns-and/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [When I worked in Los Angeles covering hard news, very often when something important would happen I'd be off in the woods covering something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/when-i-worked-in-los-angeles-covering-hard-news-very-often-when/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I would like to explore some side roads in life while I am still in good health and good spirits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-would-like-to-explore-some-side-roads-in-life-while-i-am-still-in/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [To read the papers and to listen to the news... one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/to-read-the-papers-and-to-listen-to-the-news-one-would-think-the/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [TV critics, who traditionally hate television and make their living writing about it, often didn't like what I did on the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/tv-critics-who-traditionally-hate-television-and-make-their-living/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [There are a lot of people who are doing wonderful things, quietly, with no motive of greed, or hostility toward other people, or delusions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/there-are-a-lot-of-people-who-are-doing-wonderful-things-quietly-with/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [It is liberalism, whether people like it or not, which has animated all the years of my life. What on Earth did conservatism ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/it-is-liberalism-whether-people-like-it-or-not-which-has-animated-all/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [I didn't know what narcissism was until I beheld my own naricssus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/i-didn-t-know-what-narcissism-was-until-i-beheld-my-own-naricssus/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/a-country-so-rich-that-it-can-send-people-to-the-moon-still-has/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/good-teachers-know-how-to-bring-out-the-best-in-students/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [For a while there, I was a stringer. The expression comes from the old habit of stringing together the column inches that you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/for-a-while-there-i-was-a-stringer-the-expression-comes-from-the-old/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/there-is-melancholy-in-the-wind-and-sorrow-in-the-grass/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) > [Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kuralt/often-i-have-been-exhausted-on-trout-streams-uncomfortable-wet-cold/) [Charles Kuralt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) [Explore all 89 Charles Kuralt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kuralt/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. 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