The Way of the Wild Heart Quotes

“To see you in love is far more powerful than any other lesson. A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s important that your sons see your physical affection, to see you kiss, cuddle on the couch, hold hands in public. Oh, sure—they’ll say they’re “grossed out,” tell you to “get a room.” But they are watching and learning.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“When it comes to girls, the greatest gift you can give to the young man is to watch you love your wife.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“The greatest enemy of true faith has always been religion (notice who Jesus reserves his harshest words for), and a religious attitude is not what we are after.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“He didn’t make Adam from polyester, but from the dust of the earth, and he didn’t set him down at the mall, but in the outdoors, in nature. The created world, with all its beauty and diversity and wildness, this is the world God intended for us to live in relationship to.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“The adventures and work that we choose must fit the soul of the boy. One young man’s adventure would be terrifying to another. Now,”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“Be men of courage; be strong.
—1 CORINTHIANS 16:13 NIV”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“The father is to speak into his son’s heart deep affirmation. Yes, you do. You have what it takes. He needs a hundred experiences that will help him get there, and he is wounded and emasculated when he is kept from those experiences, or left on his own to interpret them, or when no one is there to help him in his journey toward initiation.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“The masculine soul needs the trials and adventures and experiences that bring a young man to the settled confidence David showed before Goliath—the lion and the bear experiences. All of these experiences of the Cowboy stage are driving at one basic goal: to answer his Question. The boy-becoming-a-young-man has a Question, and the Question is, “Do I have what it takes?” It is a father’s job to help him get an answer, a resounding Yes! that the boy himself believes because it has come through experience.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey

“A young man’s heart is wounded when he has no one to take him into the adventures his soul craves, no one to show him how to shoot a free throw or jump his bike or rock climb or use a power tool. This is how most young men experience fatherlessness—there is no man around who cares and who is strong enough to lead him into anything. His father might be physically present, but unavailable in every way, hiding behind a newspaper or spending hours at the computer while the young man waits for the father who never comes.”
― John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey