There are many good quotes in the book A River Runs Through It. I have had a hard time deciding which one to use but I think the one I chose has the best description of the entire book. I chose the quote "Remember it is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock." I have gotten three things out of this quote, how their father taught them to grow up, a family tradition, and a way to love something with your whole heart.

The first thing I thought about when I read this quote was that from this their father taught them how to grow up. He taught them how to fly fish by taking them step by step through each part, making sure they did everything right. He also did this through his son’s lives. He watched over them, watching everything they did and tried as much as he could to help guide them through their lives.

The second thing I thought about was that he was teaching this to sons a family tradition, which he has had in life. I think that when he was very young, his father took him to his first river and taught him everything he knows about fly-fishing. His father also told him the exact same words, that he told Norman and Paul. So he only wanted to pass on family tradition to his two sons so that they could also pass it on to their sons someday. Just like his father did to him and he did to them.

The third and final thing that I thought about was that their father taught them how to love something with their whole heart and when doing it, to forget about everything else and just relax. Their father loved fly-fishing so much that when he was getting really old and couldn’t do much, he still went fishing with his boys. Also at the end of the book when Paul was killed, the one thing that their father had to know was that his right hand was broken for sure. He wanted to know this because if Paul had lived, he would never have been able to fish again and Paul would have been miserable, not being able to fish.

As you can see their father has had great influence on his boys and that’s why I picked the quote "Remember it is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock." He has taught them how to grow up, a family tradition, how to love something with their whole heart, and many more things. I think that if their father hadn’t taught them all of this their lives would have been miserable and that’s why this is my favorite quote from the entire book.