1
Study the nature around you, but also within you.Fennel Hudson
2
The world grows ever complex. More urban. Less peaceful.Fennel Hudson
3
Have courage to go your own way and fulfil the dreams that are unique and important to you.Fennel Hudson
4
People might consider you eccentric for being different, but this is good. Leaders and visionaries are not conformists afraid of standing out.Fennel Hudson
5
It is possible to be happy and successful by living on one’s own terms.Fennel Hudson
6
I admit to being prone to deep thinking, which — given that I’m emerging from dark times — can take me to some very sombre or profound places. But this is no bad thing. I always resurface wiser and with a way of viewing things that is different to before.Fennel Hudson
7
I like working among ‘creative clutter’. It gives me a sense of activity and achievement.Fennel Hudson
8
Life can be impossibly tough. At times it seems like there is no escape from either the pressure or monotony of a world where you are corralled into being something or someone you are not. But there is an escape, to more peaceful and gentler places, and a happier state of mind.Fennel Hudson
9
In the dream world, anything is possible. It requires a fertile imagination, and a desire to explore the half-light between the known and the unknown.Fennel Hudson
10
Recent generations seem to consider ‘old-fashioned’ thinking as out-dated and without place in the modern world. I beg to differ. After all, who has greater faith? He who looks to and learns from the past, or the man who cares not for consequence?Fennel Hudson
11
Only the present exists. The past is gone, and the future has not yet happened. There is only ever time present.Fennel Hudson
12
Water creates so much beauty, life and mystery.Fennel Hudson
13
Water is intrinsically linked to the mystery and excitement of discovering new worlds.Fennel Hudson
14
As a child I would play with such imagination that the ‘real’ world was never real at all. It was full of mystery, adventure and possibility.Fennel Hudson
15
Often I have found myself gazing up at clouds — yesterday’s seas and tomorrow’s streams — to think of them as floating on an ultraviolet sea, beyond which is the infinity of space that presents so much wonder and so many questions.Fennel Hudson
16
Having a fishing rod in your hand is merely an excuse to explore out-of-sight depths and reveal mysteries that previously only existed in dreams.Fennel Hudson
17
It’s the wonderment of water that makes it so appealing: thoughts of what’s beneath the surface, or out there beyond a watery horizon.Fennel Hudson
18
To sit on the stile would be to continue a familiar existence. To cross the stile would be to begin something new.Fennel Hudson
19
Disconnect from society’s pressure to conform. Do things your own way.Fennel Hudson
20
Rural and traditional escapism. That’s my angle. Places and events where we are free to relax and be ourselves, where nobody tells us to hurry along or conform or grow up. Somewhere we can properly live.Fennel Hudson
21
Old buildings whisper to us in the creaking of floorboards and rattling of windowpanes.Fennel Hudson
22
Everything from the humble woodlouse to specks of dust moving through a ray of sunlight. Each tells a story.Fennel Hudson
23
I am happiest sitting against a tree, with my notebook or sketchpad on my knee, capturing the moment.Fennel Hudson
24
When sitting down to write a letter, it always pays to calm one’s mood, collect one’s thoughts, and have a plan.Fennel Hudson
25
Putting pen to paper without first deciding the route and pace at which to scribe is like setting off on a bicycle without first checking the tyres.Fennel Hudson
26
Writers who copy or plagiarise others are dreaming in another man’s sleep.Fennel Hudson
27
I’m pretty sure I’m the only author who intends to take the longest possible route to a destination that will always be over the next hill.Fennel Hudson
28
We all need to believe in something, a dream that gives us optimism and faith.Fennel Hudson
29
If we spend enough time dreaming, then the dream might eventually become real.Fennel Hudson
30
A man can never have too many books. Neither can he have too many fountain pens, hats, fishing rods, waistcoats, tea caddies, paintings or whatever helps him to feel at home in his surroundings and communicate his personality to the world.Fennel Hudson
31
Take a step back and view the world through your eyes, not someone else’s. Listen to your heart and decide what you really want.Fennel Hudson
32
Books are the most important of all my possessions. They capture the thoughts, feelings, dreams and lives of their authors, welcoming us into their worlds and inspiring us to emulate their adventures.Fennel Hudson
33
As an angler and a gardener, I cherish each drop of rain that falls.Fennel Hudson
34
One cannot help but identify with the life-giving quality of water, not just to quench our thirst, but for our emotional and spiritual wellbeing.Fennel Hudson
35
Organic life cannot be far from water.Fennel Hudson
36
December, being the last month of the year, cannot help but make us think of what is to come.Fennel Hudson
37
You have to feel the bite of the wind to appreciate the warmth of a winter coat.Fennel Hudson
38
It is the quietening of the day that most appeals.Fennel Hudson
39
Stop — Unplug — Escape — Enjoy.’ This is the message of the Priory, and the key to enjoying a peaceful and rewarding life.Fennel Hudson
40
It is possible to escape the complexities, challenges and pace of modern life. All we have to do is close our eyes and picture a quiet world where time moves slowly.Fennel Hudson
41
Cherish the moment and the time in which you live.Fennel Hudson
42
I dropped my gardening tools, threw my bicycle over a hedge and went in search of fortunes laid beneath the hangman’s noose.Fennel Hudson
43
A traditional Englishman drinks tea to the point where his blood has long-since been replaced with an infusion of Ceylon, Assam, and Darjeeling.Fennel Hudson
44
Status: the perpetual carrot that entices us from the front and prods us in the back.Fennel Hudson
45
Angling is just a way of relaxing and escaping in the countryside.Fennel Hudson
46
It was a country life, a precious existence.Fennel Hudson
47
The only person to blame for your situation is you.Fennel Hudson