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192 • S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. Will Rogers (1879-1935) Submitted by Bob Whitehead of Cloverdale, California. Anyone who compares fishing to hunting has got it backwards; it's the thrill of being hunted that gives fishing its charm. For the few seconds our lures swim beneath the surface we recapture the innocence—the dangerous, stimulating innocence—of the days when man walked the earth not as master but as prey. It was, it is, a dangerous thing to be a human, and we need to be reminded from time to time not only of our abstract mortality, but of a mortality that springs from ambush and clamps down. W.E. Wetherell, Upland Stream, Notes on the Fishing Passion, 1991. Submitted by Bob Norris of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The secret to life is to be alive. To live ultimately by one's own hand and one's independent devices. To hunt. To kill. To eat. To live. To be happy. There is no bag limit on happiness. Ted Nugent in Barebow! by Dennis H. Dunn, 2008. Submitted by Dean Bubar of Milbridge, Maine. A dead tiger is the biggest thing I have ever seen in my life, and I have shot an elephant. A live tiger is the most exciting thing I have ever seen in my life, and I have shot a lion. A tiger in a hurry is the fastest thing I have ever seen in my life, and I have shot a leopard. A wild tiger is the most frightening thing I have ever seen in my life, and I have shot a Cape buffalo. But for the sport involved, I would rather shoot quail than shoot another tiger. Robert Ruark, Use Enough Gun, 1966. Submitted by Richard Fleming of Wichita Falls, Texas. We stood in silence, smelling the freshness of the prairie air, marveling at the brightness of the morning star. Unconsciously, almost, we waited in that world of utter silence for an old familiar sound too long unheard. Then suddenly from up there out in the darkness it came to us—a vague, soft rustling, at first less heard than felt—the sound of waterfowl a-wing in the night, cleaving the western sky in sturdy flight. And through me there rushed a wave of awe and wonder as acutely thrilling as when first I heard that sound—standing with my father—many years ago. I realized then what a host of adventures and what a world of happiness have come to me because of whistling wings. Martin Bovey, Whistling Wings, 1947. Submitted by Michael R. Miller of Spokane, Washington. Send us your favorite quotes from sporting literature and receive one free gift subscription for every quote that is published. Include the author, title of book, and date of publication. Send to: Quotes, Sporting Classics, PO Box 23707, Columbia, SC 29224 Quotes And I am told some folks have never felt their hearts explode when a covey of quail erupts at their feet, or quickened their pace when a wild turkey gobbles in the valley below them. They fork over good money on birds whose entire lives were spent in cages and whose flesh is tainted with chemicals. Poor souls. If they want to skip the thrills and eat cardboard, who am I to complain. Sam Venable, From Ridgetops to Riverbottoms, 1995 Submitted by Howard Reeves of Plymouth, Minnesota. The sounds of Nature and Music are of a universal language regardless of where you live or what language you speak. Anonymous. Submitted by Albert Mull of Johnson City, Tennessee. COurteSy herItage auCtIOnS/ha.COm