I was disoriented by the idea that men should ever leave the forest.

— Daniel J. Rice

I watched the surrounding landscape with great curiosity, and I wanted to discover the words that could describe all its unspoiled beauty.

— Daniel J. Rice

My hands are flowing like sunlight. The shapes and colors are astounding. I don't understand these images that are empowering me. My brush touches the canvas like photons to the earth, and a new world develops, free from my control, yet intrinsically dependent upon me. I am sweating with elation. I have no idea what I am doing, or what it is my hands are trying to see. There is so much strength in this clarity I am overpowered by the independence of it.

— Daniel J. Rice

Only lost photographs that were never taken know what my mind speaks of when we are alone together.

— Daniel J. Rice

...returning to nature has been a dream present in the minds of every generation since mankind first left nature.

— Daniel J. Rice

Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my mind,” she said with a Hinton sadness.“You lost your mind a long time ago,” he said seriously. She looked at him with indignation. “That’s a compliment for anyone who knows the freedom and clarity of losing their mind,” he reaffirmed her.

— Daniel J. Rice

The contemplative man always lives alone. Regardless of who may reside in his home, his is a solitary world.

— Daniel J. Rice

Their minds told them this life was not their own. This life was not the one designed for this body and soul. The truth of existence was a happiness separated from the easy happy life. There was music in the forest. There was clean air where nobody could hear him breathe.

— Daniel J. Rice

The mountains knew the definition of freedom. They provided a place where he could find his mind.

— Daniel J. Rice

The outside is the only place we can truly be inside the world.

— Daniel J. Rice