Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amourwas an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels; however, he also wrote historical fiction, science fiction, non-fiction, as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into film. L'Amour's books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death almost all of his 105 existing workswere still in print, and he was considered "one of the world's most popular writers"...
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth22 March 1908
CityJamestown, ND
Do you wish to learn? There are books that can teach you anything, and there is no cheaper form of education, nor one whose effects are more lasting. My education came from books, and they have been my companions by many campfires, in bunkhouses, ships' forecastles, in hotels and on planes. No matter where you find me, I am never far from a book.
. . . What do you wish to be? What would you like to become?” I did not know, and I told her so, but the question worried me. Should I know? “There is time,” she said, “but the sooner you know, the sooner you can plan. To have a goal is the important thing, and to work toward it. Then, if you decide you wish to do something different, you will at least have been moving, you will have been going somewhere, you will have been learning.
We are, finally, all wanderers in search of knowledge. Most of us hold the dream of becoming something better than we are, something larger, richer, in some way more important to the world and ourselves. Too often, the way taken is the wrong way, with too much emphasis on what we want to have, rather than what we wish to become.
It is not enough to do, one must also become. I wish to be wiser, stronger, better. This--" I held out my hands "--this thing that is me is incomplete. It is only the raw material with which I have to work. I want to make it better than I received it.
Long ago I learned nothing gets done by just wishing it. You have to do it.
What is second sight? A gift? A training? Or is it simply that suddenly within the brain a thousand impressions, ideas, sights, sounds, and smells coincide to provide an impression of what is to be? The mind gathers its grain in all fields, storing i
He might never really do what he said, but at least he had it in mind. He had somewhere to go.
I never figured it was a cowardly thing to be scared. It's to be scared and still face up to what scares you that matters.
What people speak of as adventure is something nobody in his right mind would seek out, and it becomes romantic only when one is safely at home.
Caution always, but when a man acts he should act suddenly and with decision.
It is better ... to fear a little. One is cautious then.
When I was a small boy I often went to the woods to lie on the grass in the shade. Somehow I had come to believe the earth could give me wisdom, but it did not. Yet I learned a little about animals and learned it is not always brave to make a stand. It is often foolish. There is a time for courage and a time for flight.
A good beginning makes a good end.
Any man can shoot a gun, and with practice he can draw fast and shoot accurately, but that makes no difference. What counts is how you stand up when somebody is shooting back at you.