How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
As Inman sat brooding and pining for his lost self, one of Swimmer's creekside stories rushed into his memory with a great urgency and attractiveness. Swimmer claimed that above the blue vault of heaven there was a forest inhabited by a celestial race. Men could not go there to stay and live, but in that high land the dead spirit could be reborn […] Inman did not consider himself to be a superstitious person, but he did believe that there is a world invisible to us. He no longer thought of that world as heaven, nor did he still think that we get to go there when we die. Those teachings had been burned away. But he could not abide by a universe composed only of what he could see, especially when it was so frequently foul. So he held to the idea of another world, a better place, and he figured he might as well consider Cold Mountain to be the location of it as anywhere. (1.64-65)
Cold Mountain is a lot more than just a mountain in this book. It's the symbol for everything Inman is trying to regain, whether he can see it or not.
Quote #2
—Don't kill me, I'm a man of God, the man said.
—Some say we all are, Inman said.
—A preacher is what I mean, the man said. I'm a preacher. (5.23-25)
Maybe we're all spiritual beings, whether we like it or not. Cold Mountain suggests it's possible, at least.
Quote #3
How do you know its name is Rigel?
—I read it in a book, Inman said.
—Then that's just a name we give it, the boy said. It ain't God's name.
Inman had thought on the issue a minute and then said, How would you ever come to know God's name for that star?
—You wouldn't, He holds it close, the boy said. (5.54-58)
There might be real things beyond our knowledge. In Cold Mountain, the world is a place full of mystery.