Sterling Hayden – Wanderer

I picked up a copy of Sterling Hayden’s Wanderer in a used book shop years ago. It was the title that grabbed me… and I wasn’t disappointed with this autobiography.  I had never heard of him at the time of my first reading though I had seen a few of his movies. Recently I was talking about sailing and Hollywood with a friend and I was reminded of this book… This passage is a great summation of his philosophy and one that I find inspirational…

…enter Mr. Hayden

“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind of known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… “cruising” it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon, the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

“I’ve always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can’t afford it.” What these men can’t afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of “security.” And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in – and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That’s all – in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?”

-Sterling Hayden, Wanderer

More information on Sterling Hayden

• Wikipedia entry – Sterling Hayden
• Nice blog post on Sterling Hayden by Christian Allaire with some nice pics
• I’ve always liked talk shows that are simple, one-on-one interviews… like Charlie Rose and Tom Snyder. Here is a series of interviews Tom Snyder did with Sterling Hayden on The Tomorrow Show…
  • Interview 1 (audio only)
    • Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

• Part 4

• Part 5

• Part 6

• Interview 2
  • Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3

• Part 4

• Interview 3
  • Part 1

• Part 2

• Part 3