“The rain of Madre de Dios is similar to that of the Amazon, but there is a petrifying aspect to it, as if it seeks to wound rather than to nurture.”

“There comes a stage at which a man would rather die cleanly by a bullet than by the unknown terror of the phantom in the forest.”

“I was no longer troubled when he pulled out a machete in a crowded bar, tried to pick up schoolgirls, or threatened to scalp us, then rip off our heads and scoop out our brains.”

“In the world of the Machiguenga, sadness could be equated with anger, and anger was a perilous emotion, by which a foreigner could lose his life.”

“Experience has taught me the power of trophies. You may have every knick-knack and useless contraption ever devised, but while they weigh you down, a simple trophy can go a long, long way.”

“The quest for a lost city erodes your body, damaging you beyond all reason. But it is your mind that bears the heaviest toll. Listen to the doubters, the worriers and the weak, and the vaguest hope...”

“To die will be an awfully big adventure.”

“Go outside. Dont tell anyone and dont bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads day in and day ou...”

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.”

“Any man who has ever led an army, an expedition, or a group of Boy Scouts has sadism in his bones.”

“The first rule of an expedition is that everyone should stick together.”

“Spend sixteen weeks in the jungle and you being to question your own sanity, especially when you are the one goading everyone else ahead.”

“I stand before her, meeting her eye to eye and nose to nose. My head takes a slight bow as I clench my fist. I should have just killed you like any other bloodsucking vampire.So why didnt you? She ...”

“War is a monster. War is the devil. It starts and it consumes and it grows and grows. And otherwise normal men become monsters, too.”

“Maybe becoming a monster is a sign of strength.”