There's more fun in hunting with the handicap of the bow than there is in hunting with the sureness of the gun.
Fred BearRead
I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target, but as a living creature with more freedom than I will ever have. I take that life if I can, with regret as well as joy, and with the sure knowledge that nature's way of fang and claw and starvation are a far crueler fate than I bestow.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a deep respect for nature and the animals within it, acknowledging the complexity of life and death.
In this quote, Fred Bear expresses a profound reverence for the animals he hunts, recognizing their inherent value and freedom. He grapples with the duality of joy and regret that comes with taking a life, emphasizing that the harsh realities of nature often bring about a more cruel death than what he provides. This stance highlights the interconnectedness of life and the moral complexities surrounding hunting and nature.
Themes
HuntingNatureRespectLifeFreedomAnimals
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a conservation speech to highlight the importance of respecting wildlife.
More from Fred Bear
All quotes →Similar quotes
When you have an intense contact of love with nature or another human being, like a spark, then you understand that there is no time and that everything is eternal.
Paulo CoelhoRead
If we've learned any lessons during the past few decades, perhaps the most important is that preservation of our environment is not a partisan challenge; it's common sense. Our physical health, our social happiness, and our economic well-being will be sustained only by all of us working in partnership as thoughtful, effective stewards of our natural resources.
Ronald ReaganRead
The evergreen! How beautiful, how welcome, how wonderful the evergreen! When one thinks of it, how astonishing a variety of nature! In some countries we know that the tree that sheds its leaf is the variety, but that does not make it less amazing, that the same soil and the same sun should nurture plants differing in the first rule and law of their existence.
Jane AustenRead
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
Rachel CarsonRead
I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.
John MuirRead
The only words that ever satisfied me as describing nature are the terms used in fairy books, charm, spell, enchantment; they express the arbitrariness of the fact and its mystery.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead