Medicine Walk Quotes

“She only nodded. "It's all we are in the end. Our stories.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk

“Sometimes when things get taken away from you it feels like there's a hole at your centre where you can feel the wind blow through, that's sure.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk

“There was a feeling in him like a bruise, a purple ache that set between his ribs. He tasted a cry building at the back of his throat. It was too familiar and made him fearful.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk

“He smells funny,” the kid said. “He’s been rinsed through pretty good.” “With that whisky?” the kid asked. “Yes, sir. Some men take to it. I never did.” “Why not? Does it do bad things?” The old man looked at him over his shoulder. “Keeps varmints away,” he said. “How so?” “Savvy what a varmint is?” “Yeah,” the kid said. “Pests. Things you don’t want around.” “Well, whisky keeps things away that some people don’t want around neither. Like dreams, recollections, wishes, other people sometimes.” The old man turned on the stool and set the milk pail down on the floor between his feet. “Things get busted sometimes. When they happen in the world you can fix ’em most times. But when they happen inside a person they’re harder to mend. Eldon got broke up pretty bad inside,” he said.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk: A Novel

“He held his hand up to his face and licked the wound. Blood. Old-tasting and rich like the sediment of a river. He looked at Jimmy. The blood on their faces meant they were part of the same stream now, bobbing in the current, borne forward effortlessly under the slowly twirling dome of the sky.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk: A Novel

“ya prove who ya are in the day yer in.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk: A Novel

“She's a tale spinner," he said. "She spins 'em right outta the air. Tells 'em whole so's you'd think yer readin' a book.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk

“There was a feeling in him like waiting for a punishment.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk

“Jimmy used to say we’re a Great Mystery. Everything. Said the things they done, those old-time Indians, was all about learnin’ to live with that mystery. Not solving it, not comin’ to grips with it, not even tryin’ to guess it out. Just bein’ with it. I guess I wish I’da learned the secret to doing that.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk: A Novel

“Even if I’m wrong, there’s worse ways to live than stopping to thank the mystery for the mystery.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk: A Novel

“She had a way of brushing her hair back from her face with one hand, slowly, using the tips of her fingers, closing her eyes briefly, and he was entranced by that. The sheer pleasure she took in it.”
― Richard Wagamese, Medicine Walk: A Novel