Edward Hoagland Quotes

A collection of quotes by Edward Hoagland.

Edward Hoagland is an American author born on December 21, 1932, in New York City. He is best known for his versatile writings; from personal essays and travelogue to fiction, Hoagland has made a significant impact on American literature. His literary career began in the 1950s, and he has since published over 20 books, including novels, collections of essays, and nature writing.

Hoagland's writing often explores themes of nature, culture, and the human experience. He delves into both the beauty and complexities of the natural world, capturing its essence in vivid detail. His keen observations and unique perspective have earned him critical acclaim, as well as a loyal readership.

Throughout his career, Hoagland has received numerous prestigious awards for his work. His notable accolades include the John Burroughs Nature Award, the O. Henry Award for Fiction, and the Brandeis Creative Arts Award in Nonfiction. His essays have appeared in prominent magazines such as Harper's, National Geographic, and The New York Times Magazine.

Now in his late eighties, Hoagland continues to write, reflecting on his experiences and offering insight into the human condition. With his eloquent prose and profound understanding of the world, Edward Hoagland remains an influential and respected figure in American literature.

Men often compete with one another until the day they die; c

Men often compete with one another until the day they die; comradeship consists of rubbing shoulders jocularly with a competitor.

Edward Hoagland

Competition

There is a time of life somewhere between the sullen fugues

There is a time of life somewhere between the sullen fugues of adolescence and the retrenchments of middle age when human nature becomes so absolutely absorbing one wants to be in the city constantly, even at the height of summer.

Edward Hoagland

Cities

If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he c

If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can't go at dawn and not many places he can't go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking -- one sport you shouldn't have to reserve a time and a court for.

Edward Hoagland

Walking

There often seems to be a playfulness to wise people, as if

There often seems to be a playfulness to wise people, as if either their equanimity has as its source this playfulness or the playfulness flows from the equanimity; and they can persuade other people who are in a state of agitation to calm down and manage a smile.

Edward Hoagland

Wisdom

Animals used to provide a lowlife way to kill and get away w

Animals used to provide a lowlife way to kill and get away with it, as they do still, but, more intriguingly, for some people they are an aperture through which wounds drain. The scapegoat of olden times, driven off for the bystanders sins, has become a tender thing, a running injury. There, running away is me: hurt it and you are hurting me.

Edward Hoagland

Animals

City people try to buy time as a rule, when they can, wherea

City people try to buy time as a rule, when they can, whereas country people are prepared to kill time, although both try to cherish in their mind's eye the notion of a better life ahead.

Edward Hoagland

Time

Men greet each other with a sock on the arm, women with a hu

Men greet each other with a sock on the arm, women with a hug, and the hug wears better in the long run.

Edward Hoagland

Men & Women

True solitude is a din of birdsong, seething leaves, whirlin

True solitude is a din of birdsong, seething leaves, whirling colors, or a clamor of tracks in the snow.

Edward Hoagland

Solitude

Animals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga -- sty

Animals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga -- stylized because even the most acute of them have little leeway as they play out their parts.

Edward Hoagland

Animals

It's incongruous that the older we get, the more likely we a

It's incongruous that the older we get, the more likely we are to turn in the direction of religion. Less vivid and intense ourselves, closer to the grave, we begin to conceive of ourselves as immortal.

Edward Hoagland

Religion

Country people tend to consider that they have a corner on r

Country people tend to consider that they have a corner on righteousness and to distrust most manifestations of cleverness, while people in the city are leery of righteousness but ascribe to themselves all manner of cleverness.

Edward Hoagland

Cities

To relive the relationship between owner and slave we can co

To relive the relationship between owner and slave we can consider how we treat our cars and dogs -- a dog exercising a somewhat similar leverage on our mercies and an automobile being comparable in value to a slave in those days.

Edward Hoagland

Slavery

There aren't many irritations to match the condescension whi

There aren't many irritations to match the condescension which a woman metes out to a man who she believes has loved her vainly for the past umpteen years.

Edward Hoagland

Infatuation

Like a kick in the butt, the force of events wakes slumberou

Like a kick in the butt, the force of events wakes slumberous talents.

Edward Hoagland

Humanity

Many divorces are not really the result of irreparable injur

Many divorces are not really the result of irreparable injury but involve, instead, a desire on the part of the man or woman to shatter the setup, start out from scratch alone, and make life work for them all over again. They want the risk of disaster, want to touch bottom, see where bottom is, and, coming up, to breathe the air with relief and relish again.

Edward Hoagland

Divorce

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to tr

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.

Edward Hoagland

Dogs

Nobody expects to trust his body overmuch after the age of f

Nobody expects to trust his body overmuch after the age of fifty.

Edward Hoagland

Age

The question of whether it's God's green earth is not at cen

The question of whether it's God's green earth is not at center stage, except in the sense that if so, one is reminded with some regularity that He may be dying.

Edward Hoagland

Conservation