The Great Soul of Siberia Quotes

“You must have faith. Walking through the woods, you often come across owl pellets, small masses of indigestible bones and feathers that have been regurgitated by the bird at the foot of a tree. When you find one of these, you know an owl is sitting on a branch over your head, looking down at you. You may be overcome by the urge to look up and see the owl for yourself. But the moment you give in and look up, the owl will fly away. I trust the owl is up there and continue on my way. This way, the forest avoids a small disturbance and maintains its peace. Trusting an animal is there by looking at its traces rather than pursuing the animal itself: this is faith in nature. Once”
― Sooyong Park, Great Soul of Siberia: Passion, Obsession, and One Man's Quest for the World's Most Elusive Tiger

“I read and re-read the books I had brought. The quality of the book didn’t matter. What was important was that there was reading material at all. Any book you read many times over will seem like great literature. You start to see the thought and care that went into its creation. I was grateful to all writers who ever wrote. I”
― Sooyong Park, Great Soul of Siberia: Passion, Obsession, and One Man's Quest for the World's Most Elusive Tiger

“Domesticated animals like cats and dogs can look at their human companions’ facial expressions and discern their moods and whether the humans like them or not. The same is true for smart tigers in the wild. Why are those humans here? By coincidence or by design? They figure out human intentions based on behavior, expressions, and the energy radiated by people and take precautions or even attack accordingly. A jay once built a nest in the juniper tree at a temple I used to go to. Out of curiosity one day, a monk at the temple peeked inside and happened to meet the gaze of the jay brooding an egg. The monk felt sorry, as if he’d invaded someone’s privacy by looking into their bedroom. From that day on, the monk purposefully ignored the jay when he passed by the nest. The jay also grew to ignore the presence of the monk coming and going, and it was able to raise its young and leave the nest. In contrast, an azure-winged magpie once built a nest in my friend’s garden. Enchanted by its light blue wings and long tail, my friend looked in on the bird often. Not long after, the magpie gave up the nest and flew away, leaving behind a rotten egg. We”
― Sooyong Park, Great Soul of Siberia: Passion, Obsession, and One Man's Quest for the World's Most Elusive Tiger

“The Great King drew back his lips to reveal his fangs to me. It was a silent warning not to do anything foolish. The gesture drained the last bit of courage I had in me.”
― Sooyong Park, The Great Soul of Siberia: In Search of the Elusive Siberian Tiger

“Like a tiger clamping down and shaking a deer's throat, the wind bit and clawed at the forest. It swam through the trees by night and down the beach at dawn. It swept across the beach, working up a dusty blue storm, and the ocean took a deep breath to hold back its anger.
New tracks appeared where the wind had been. Living, breathing life could be found at the end of these traces. On the sandy beach as clean as the beginning of time, a single line of flower-shaped paw prints appeared.”
― Sooyong Park, The Great Soul of Siberia

“Bones are the history of a forest and, in their own way, immortal. Just as you may be moved when you read a classic novel, I am inspired by the history of the forest I read in bones. Traces are physical things that sometimes have spiritual properties that reverberate in our souls. And so the traces I find always remain in my heart.”
― Sooyong Park, The Great Soul of Siberia: In Search of the Elusive Siberian Tiger