Hunger, thirst, heat and cold: I had tasted them in full

In the desert I had found a freedom unattainable in civilization a life unhampered by possessions, since everything that was not a necessity was an encumbrance. I had found too, a comradeship inherent in the circumstances, and the belief that tranquility was to be found there.

I knew instinctively that it was the very hardness of life in the desert which drew me back there - it was the same pull which takes men back to the polar ice, to high mountains, and to the sea.

The harder the life, the finer the person.