In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond Quotes

“Learn to be as analytical about things of which you are credulous as you are of those which you criticize.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“I've learned to see the Sasquatch as a powerful symbol of the natural world—a diminishing realm fro which most of us are becoming increasingly estranged. On one level, Sasquatches personify the more refined spectra of nature that we cannot, or often do not, see. They remind us that there is much more to the natural world, writ large, than meets the eye. They also show us, almost by holding a mirror to ourselves, that they eye with which we see is limited. The artificial lines we humans have created, the fragmentation we have wrought upon the whole, separate us from the wilds to which we are inextricably linked.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“We have an innate, fundamental need for meaning—for our lives to be meaningful.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things whether the Sasquatch actually exists or not.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“The Sasqualogist... is no different from other self-styled heroes. HIs or her particular brand of journeying rests heavily on literal adventuring—questing—through a physically wild landscape... But this quest, it seems to me, is also metaphorical. He or she is in pursuit of what may be the most elusive prize that ever existed—a modern-day holy grail.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“It may or may not be real. It doesn't matter if it is literally not.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“Then a thought hits me: maybe the Sasquatch hasn't been found, indeed can't be found, because it residesin the place most difficult for us to find and navigate. A wilderness of an altogether different sort. A place where people seldom look, or are loath to look: in the subtler shades, the gradations between black and white—the middle ground between "this" and "that," between "It exists" and "It doesn't exist," where the components of truth most often reside.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“When people who see a Bigfoot in a transcendental way then choose to search for the creature afterward, they are really looking to relive, or recapture, a moment of expanded awareness that has long since vanished.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“Contrary to what we think, we experience reality not as it actually is—but as a simplified model. The reason for this? Reality is far too complex. Infinitely complex, in fact... as a result, our mind evolved to construct a deeply simplified version of all that surrounds us: a virtual reality made up of only the important information—perhaps a trillionth of the possible external stimuli. And we make do with that.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“If you see a Sasquatch out on the land, it's meant to tell you something. You were supposed to see it. You don't go looking for it just for the sake of seeing it. If you do, you'll never find them... it's just like in life; when you try too hard to find something, you can't. But then as soon as you stop looking, stop trying, you become more likely to find it.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“How far-fetched (or not) we deem the Sasquatch might also hinge on our perception of space. Bigfoots may be unbelievable to so many people simply because most of us are disconnected from the true depths and expanses of the earth and its wild areas.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“What sets [some stories] apart from other Sasquatch tales is the drama, danger and emotional tension built into them—and a narrative flamboyance that fire the imagination. Raising the emotional pitch, research shows, lead to gullibility and conditioning.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“I go over the arguments for and against the creature's existence in an attempt to ground myself. In doing so, I'm reminded of how intractable the debate is. On one side you have the disciples of the rational notion that anything that can't be shown to exist physically cannot exist. On the other is the view that when something can't be seen, or can't be shown to exist, this doesn't prove it's not there.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch

“There has to be a way to make better sense of the phenomenon: one that doesn't rely on ready-made positions rooted in unquestioning belief or disbelief; one that moves past the pop-culture veneer and rhetoric of opposing camps and into the more nuanced territory where psychology, culture, history, literature, and indigenous experience overlap.”
― John Zada, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch