--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have been thinking more and more that I…" description: "\"I have been thinking more and more that I shall always be a lone wanderer of the wilderness. God, how the trail lures me. You cannot comprehend its res..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/everett-ruess-21906_desolate_i-have-been-thinking-more-and-more-that_2001075.jpg" --- # I have been thinking more and more that I shall always be… ![“I have been thinking more and more that I shall always be a lone wanderer of the wilderness. God, how the trail lures me. You cannot comprehend its resistless fascination for me. After all, the lone trail is bestI'll never stop wandering. And when the time comes to die, I'll find the wildest…” quote by Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/everett-ruess-21906_desolate_i-have-been-thinking-more-and-more-that_2001075.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/everett-ruess-21906_desolate_i-have-been-thinking-more-and-more-that_2001075.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41a/everett-ruess-21906_desolate_i-have-been-thinking-more-and-more-that_2001075.jpg) > “I have been thinking more and more that I shall always be a lone wanderer of the wilderness. God, how the trail lures me. You cannot comprehend its resistless fascination for me. After all, the lone trail is bestI'll never stop wandering. And when the time comes to die, I'll find the wildest, loneliest, most desolate spot there is.” [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He feels an irresistible pull to solitary wandering in nature, seeing it as his ultimate destiny. **In simple terms:** Loves wandering alone in wild places. Key Takeaway Embrace solitude in nature. Themes solitude wanderlust nature existential longing Mood contemplative lonely Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - backpacking - solo hikes - remote research - spiritual retreats Key Concepts transcendence self-discovery wildness Questions to Reflect On - What does wilderness represent for you? - Can solitude be both healing and harmful? A Different Perspective Loneliness can become isolating; not all find peace alone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desolate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desolate/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Fascination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascination/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Lone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lone/) [Lone Trail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lone-trail-3521532/) [Lone Wanderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lone-wanderer-3521531/) [Loneliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loneliness/) [Lure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lure/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Spots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spots/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Trails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trails/) [Wander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wander/) [Wanderer Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanderer-wilderness-3521533/) [Wanderers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanderers/) [Wandering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wandering/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) ## Related quotes > [The trails of the world be countless, and most of the trails be tried; You tread on the heels of the many, till you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-service/the-trails-of-the-world-be-countless-and-most-of-the-trails-be-tried/) [Robert W. Service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-service/) > [I'll never stop wandering. And when the time comes to die, I'll find the wildest, loneliest, most desolate spot there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-ll-never-stop-wandering-and-when-the-time-comes-to-die-i-ll-find/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [In his larger forms, Schubert is a wanderer. He likes to move at the edge of the precipice, and does so with the assurance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-brendel/in-his-larger-forms-schubert-is-a-wanderer-he-likes-to-move-at-the/) [Alfred Brendel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-brendel/) > [“Ô, the wine of a woman from heaven is sent, more perfect than all that a man can invent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/the-wine-of-a-woman-from-heaven-is-sent-more-perfect-than-all-that-a/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [I, the soul named Wanderer, love you, human Ian and that will never change no matter what I might become. If I were a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/i-the-soul-named-wanderer-love-you-human-ian-and-that-will-never/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [I see myself forever and ever as the ridiculous man, the lonely soul, the wanderer, the restless frustrated artist, the man in love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-see-myself-forever-and-ever-as-the-ridiculous-man-the-lonely-soul/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“And most days she was lost; The kind of lost that isn't supposed to be found again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahnoor-naseer/and-most-days-she-was-lost-the-kind-of-lost-that-isn-t-supposed-to-be/) [Mahnoor Naseer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahnoor-naseer/) > [Since thy return, through days and weeks Of hope that grew by stealth, How many wan and faded cheeks Have kindled into health! The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/since-thy-return-through-days-and-weeks-of-hope-that-grew-by-stealth/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [What I prized most was freedom, freedom to do my work, to give myself spontaneously and not out of duty or by command. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/what-i-prized-most-was-freedom-freedom-to-do-my-work-to-give-myself/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Thou waitest for the spark from heaven! and we, Light half-believers of our casual creeds, Who never deeply felt, nor clearly will'd, Whose insight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/thou-waitest-for-the-spark-from-heaven-and-we-light-half-believers-of/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [I'm not a wanderer, which is funny because I'm on tour half the time. I'm a home, hearth and family kind of person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-m-not-a-wanderer-which-is-funny-because-i-m-on-tour-half-the-time-i/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [Genius in the poet, like the nomad of Arabia, ever a wanderer, still ever makes a home where the well or the palm-tree invites…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/genius-in-the-poet-like-the-nomad-of-arabia-ever-a-wanderer-still/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [O Innocence, with laughing eyes! Thou art a cherub from the skies, A wanderer from heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-rice/o-innocence-with-laughing-eyes-thou-art-a-cherub-from-the-skies-a/) [Harvey Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-rice/) > [We are, finally, all wanderers in search of knowledge. Most of us hold the dream of becoming something better than we are, something larger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/we-are-finally-all-wanderers-in-search-of-knowledge-most-of-us-hold/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) > [“remember asking my mom when I was little if I could go live at this place in Boston called “The Home for Little Wanderers.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-kirkman/remember-asking-my-mom-when-i-was-little-if-i-could-go-live-at-this/) [Jen Kirkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-kirkman/) ## More by Everett Ruess > [I don't think I could ever settle down. I have known too much of the depths of life already, and I would prefer anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-don-t-think-i-could-ever-settle-down-i-have-known-too-much-of-the/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I must pack my short lifer full of interesting events and creative activity. Philosophy and aesthetic contemplation are not enough. I intend to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-must-pack-my-short-lifer-full-of-interesting-events-and-creative/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I thought that there were two rules in life - never count the cost, and never do anything unless you can do it wholeheartedly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-thought-that-there-were-two-rules-in-life-never-count-the-cost-and/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I have seen almost more beauty than I can bear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-have-seen-almost-more-beauty-than-i-can-bear/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-have-not-tired-of-the-wilderness-rather-i-enjoy-its-beauty-and-the/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I have been in many beautiful places, and did not wish to taste, but to drink deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-have-been-in-many-beautiful-places-and-did-not-wish-to-taste-but-to/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [“I like to be perfectly open and sincere, and yet it is impossible to be sincere to all of one's self at once, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-like-to-be-perfectly-open-and-sincere-and-yet-it-is-impossible-to/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [Happiness lies in a large measure of self-forgetfulness, either in work . . . or in the love of others. ♥](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/happiness-lies-in-a-large-measure-of-self-forgetfulness-either-in/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [“I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-prefer-the-saddle-to-the-streetcar-and-star-sprinkled-sky-to-a-roof/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [Say that I starved; that I was lost and weary; That I was burned and blinded by the desert sun; Footsore, thirsty, sick with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/say-that-i-starved-that-i-was-lost-and-weary-that-i-was-burned-and/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-prefer-the-saddle-to-the-streetcar-and-star-sprinkled-sky-to-a-roof-2/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [Always I shall be one who loves the wilderness: Swaggers and softly creeps between the mountain peaks; I shall listen long to the sea's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/always-i-shall-be-one-who-loves-the-wilderness-swaggers-and-softly/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [“I have always been unsatisfied with life as most people live it. Always I want to live more intensely and richly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-have-always-been-unsatisfied-with-life-as-most-people-live-it/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [I'm drunk on the fiery elixer of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-m-drunk-on-the-fiery-elixer-of-beauty/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [“I suppose a great and soul filling love is perhaps the greatest experience a man may have, but it is such a rarity as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-suppose-a-great-and-soul-filling-love-is-perhaps-the-greatest/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) [Explore all 26 Everett Ruess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) ## More Desolate quotes > [My God, whose son, as on this night, took on Him the form of man, and for man vouchsafed to suffer and bleed, controls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-god-whose-son-as-on-this-night-took-on-him-the-form-of-man-and-for/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-people-loathe-the-most-is-to-be-orphaned-desolate-unworthy-but/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [“Call me crazy, but there is something terribly wrong with this city.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-reese-maher/call-me-crazy-but-there-is-something-terribly-wrong-with-this-city/) [Nathan Reese Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-reese-maher/) > [We live in an era where masses of people come and go across a hostile planet, desolate and violent. Refugees, emigrants, exiles, deportees. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/we-live-in-an-era-where-masses-of-people-come-and-go-across-a-hostile/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [And really, the reason we think of death in celestial terms is that the visible firmament, especially at night (above our blacked-out Paris with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/and-really-the-reason-we-think-of-death-in-celestial-terms-is-that/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“That’s a stupid name! Whirly-gig is much better, I think. Who in their right mind would point at this thing and say, ‘I’m going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-reese-maher/that-s-a-stupid-name-whirly-gig-is-much-better-i-think-who-in-their/) [Nathan Reese Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-reese-maher/) > [He who abhors and shuns the light of the Sun,He who refuses to behold with respect the living creation of God,He who leads the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoroaster/he-who-abhors-and-shuns-the-light-of-the-sun-he-who-refuses-to-behold/) [Zoroaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoroaster/) > [Leaves like rusty tin for the desolate mind that has seen the end- the barest glimmerings. Leaves aswirl with gulls made wild by winter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgos-seferis/leaves-like-rusty-tin-for-the-desolate-mind-that-has-seen-the-end-the/) [Giorgos Seferis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgos-seferis/) > [ I expected the unexpected and went \[on the Moon\] with an open mind. I think the visual scene was described by my words on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/i-expected-the-unexpected-and-went-on-the-moon-with-an-open-mind-i/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [From an early age she had developed the art of being alone and generally preferred her own company to anyone else’s. She read books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-faulks/from-an-early-age-she-had-developed-the-art-of-being-alone-and/) [Sebastian Faulks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-faulks/) > [Ever since the world began, it has been the belief of mankind that desolate places are the special haunt of supernatural beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jefferies/ever-since-the-world-began-it-has-been-the-belief-of-mankind-that/) [Richard Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jefferies/) > [The story of the universe finally comes to an end. For the first time in its life, the universe will be permanent and unchanging.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-cox/the-story-of-the-universe-finally-comes-to-an-end-for-the-first-time/) [Brian Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-cox/) > [“Desolate’ was the most perfectly beautiful word for how she felt. Sometimes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/desolate-was-the-most-perfectly-beautiful-word-for-how-she-felt/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) [Browse all 126 Desolate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desolate/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have been thinking more and more that I shall always be a lone wanderer of the wilderness. God, how the trail lures me. You cannot comprehend its resistless fascination for me. After all, the lone trail is bestI'll never stop wandering. 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