24 Quotes by John Vaillant

...the tiger is a bellwether--one of thousands of similarly vulnerable species, which are, at once, casualties of our success and symbols of our failure. The current moment is proof of our struggle to evolve (perhaps "mature" is a better word) beyond outmoded fears and attitudes, to face the fact that nature is neither our enemy nor our slave.

Tigers go by several different names here, and one of them is Toyota-because, during the 1990's, that is what you could buy with one.

The impact of an attacking tiger can be compared to that of a piano falling on you from a second story window. But unlike the piano, the tiger is designed to do this, and the impact is only the beginning.

The tiger will see you a hundred times before you see him once.

The most terrifying and important test for a human being is to be in absolute isolation,” he explained. “A human being is a very social creature, and ninety percent of what he does is done only because other people are watching. Alone, with no witnesses, he starts to learn about himself – who is he really?

The one certainty in tiger tracks is: follow them long enough and you will eventually arrive at a tiger, unless the tiger arrives at you first.

A human being is a very social creature, and ninety percent of what he does is done only because other people are watching. Alone, with no witnesses, he starts to learn about himself – who is he really?

This is the magical realism of NAFTA – Mexico, the birthplace of corn, is now importing surplus corn from el Norte – millions of tons driving the price down so campesinos can’t afford to grow it. Exporting people and importing corn. It is backwards, no?

Always the padre told us that the wine is the blood of Christ and it’s Him you are drinking from the cup, His life on your lips. But the padre was wrong – blood is not life, water is.