Desolation Mountain Quotes

“They understand that if you repeat a lie often enough, eventually the public is going to accept it as truth.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“In this moment, here and now, we celebrate the spirit of what is good in each of us and in those friends who stood with us in the dark and chased away death's shadow." He lifted his eyes to the night sky. "We give thanks to the Creator and we pray that in the battle between love and fear, which is always raging in the human heart, love will triumph.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“To a human who listens, knowledge is given.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“the truth about our government, any government for that matter, is that protecting its citizens is never its first priority. Its first priority is protecting itself.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“one of the things a healer knows is that human beings already have within them an understanding of how to heal themselves. Often, all a Mide did was help guide them to this understanding. A sweat was like that, Stephen decided, and he wondered, So what do I already know that I need to understand?”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“Standing in that simple cabin in the middle of nowhere, his hand in the grip of the oldest man he had ever seen, Bo realized that he was in the presence of someone whose power was of a remarkably different kind.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“Meloux closed his eyes, lifted his face to the sun, breathed deeply.
"That is all of life," the old Mide said quietly.
"What?" Stephen asked.
"Letting go of the questions. Letting go of the fear that there will be no answers."
"Will there be answers?"
"What we believe we want is like knocking on a closed door. Better to open ourselves to what we have and what we know. The beauty of this moment.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“Doesn’t matter who’s in the White House, the truth about our government, any government for that matter, is that protecting its citizens is never its first priority. Its first priority is protecting itself.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“The Great Mystery.” This was one of the more poetic interpretations of Kitchimanidoo, which was also translated as the Great Spirit or sometimes the Creator. Stephen, in his efforts at spiritual understanding, had come to believe that whatever you called this spirit—God, Allah, Kitchimanidoo—it was an integrated consciousness on a cosmic scale, the interconnectedness of all creation.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“one of the things a healer knows is that human beings already have within them an understanding of how to heal themselves.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“a loss of the connection with the Great Mystery, the spirit that ran through all creation and united all things. Those men, Stephen understood, were”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“lie often enough, eventually the public is going to accept it as truth.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“We give thanks to the Creator and we pray that in the battle between love and fear, which is always raging in the human heart, love will triumph.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“This is not a time for heavy hearts,” the Mide said. “Death was our shadow, but that shadow is gone. Justice? We will pray this comes with the light of day. In this moment, here and now, we celebrate the spirit of what is good in each of us and in those friends who stood with us in the dark and chased away death’s shadow.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“The earth isn’t just rock and dirt and trees and water. It’s one thing, one heart, one spirit. It offers us life and beauty and, if we listen, wisdom. And it asks nothing in return, not even gratitude, because giving is the whole reason for its creation. “And why are we created? To receive, to honor, and to protect. What you talk about here isn’t just the wounding of that beautiful, giving spirit. What you talk about here, in your ignorance, is the wounding of the spirit of us all. We are not separate. To kill the water, to kill the fish, to kill the trees, to kill the birds, is to kill ourselves. That is all I have to say.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“It wasn’t PTSD, though clearly some were suffering from that condition. And it wasn’t the slow debilitation that came from exposure to toxins like Agent Orange. It was a loss of the connection with the Great Mystery, the spirit that ran through all creation and united all things. Those men, Stephen understood, were lost, disconnected from others and from their true selves. Deep inside him, he felt the call to heal.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain

“I’m not sure Harmon wants to be helped.” Cork understood. Some people fed on their anger or their bitterness or their resentment for so long that even though it was poison, it was what they craved.”
― William Kent Krueger, Desolation Mountain