Roger Deakin > Quotes

“The great thing about an aimless swim is that everything about it is concentrated in the here and now; none of its essence or intensity can escape into the past or future. The swimmer is content to be borne on his way full of mysteries, doubts and uncertainties. He is a leaf on the stream, free at last from his petty little purposes in life.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain

“The sky can seem very pale in summer once you've grown accustomed to the darkness - Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees”
― Roger Deakin

“In the night sea at Walberswick, I have seen bodies fiery with phosphorescent plankton striking through the neon waves like dragons.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain

“Water is H2O, hydrogen two parts, oxygen one, But there is also a third thing, that makes it water And nobody knows what that is.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain

“So swimming is a rite of passage, a crossing of boundaries: the line of the shore, the bank of the river, the edge of the pool, the surface itself. When you enter the water, something like metamorphosis happens. Leaving behind the land, you go through the looking-glass surface and enter a new world, in which survival, not ambition or desire, is the dominant aim. The lifeguards at the pool or the beach remind you of the thin line between waving and drowning.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain

“I leave my devils on the waves.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain

“I am only interested in everything.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain

“This passage ended up in my own book. “Your sense of the present,” he added, “is overwhelming.” Time itself could be altered; how awesome that was! What’s more, this was accessible magic, ready to be felt by anyone who made the plunge.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain

“Most of us live in a world where more and more places and things are signposted, labelled, and officially ‘interpreted’. There is something about all this that is turning the reality of things into virtual reality. It is the reason why walking, cycling and swimming will always be subversive activities. They allow us to regain a sense of what is old and wild in these islands, by getting off the beaten track and breaking free of the official version of things. A swimming journey would give me access to that part of our world which, like darkness, mist, woods or high mountains, still retains most mystery. It would afford me a different perspective on the rest of land-locked humanity.”
― Roger Deakin, Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain