Each evening, I ached for the shelter of my tent, for the smallest sense that something was shielding me from the entire rest of the world, keeping me safe not from danger, but from vastness itself. I loved the dim, clammy dark of my tent, the cozy familiarity of the way I arranged my few belongings all around me each night.

— Cheryl Strayed

Each night the black sky and the bright stars were my stunning companions; occasionally I'd see their beauty and solemnity so plainly that I'd realize in a piercing way that my mother was right. That someday I would be grateful and that in fact I was grateful now, that I felt something growing in me that was strong and real.

— Cheryl Strayed

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves...

— Cheryl Strayed

Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one woman are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. Furthermore, I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked.

— Cheryl Strayed

God is not a granter of wishes. God is a ruthless bitch.

— Cheryl Strayed

Go, even though you love him. Go, even though he is kind and faithful and dear to you. Go, even though he's your best friend and you're his. Go, even though you can't imagine your life without him. Go, even though he adores you and your leaving will devastate him. Go, even though your friends will be disappointed or surprised or pissed off or all three. Go, even though you once said you would stay. Go, even though you're afraid of being alone. Go, even though you're sure no one will ever love you as well as he does. Go, even though there is nowhere to go. Go, even though you don't know exactly why you can't stay. Go, because you want to. Because wanting to leave is enough.

— Cheryl Strayed

Grief doesn't have a face.

— Cheryl Strayed

He felt like a brother of mine, but not at all like my actual brother. He seemed like someone I'd always know even if I never saw him again.

— Cheryl Strayed

He kissed me hard, and I kissed him back harder, like it was the end of an era that had lasted all of my life.

— Cheryl Strayed

He was the most ordinary man in all the world, and yet in her memory he'd become luminous, like the prince in a fairy tale.

— Cheryl Strayed