“A wooden tub of cold water sat on the floor near the door. Cedar switches were laid on the bench or in the cold water tub… on a little shelf… you could find a kitchen brush and yellow laundry soap… after you steamed yourself… you dumped pails of water over your head, flushing away the week’s accumulation of dead skin and soap suds.” - Jingo Viitala Vachon

“The ideal sauna is a small building made of logs, set near a lakeshore, facing toward the sunset.” - Bernhard Hillila

“But one thing is the same in all places: the physics of water thrown on hot rocks turning to steam to clean the pores, ease the stress of the day, and enhance the enjoyment of the open night air.” - David D Salmela

“Out the sauna window I gaze
at the crystal blue lake
and dream of the cool waters
flowing around my body
contrasting the pleasant heat
of the sauna.” - David Salmela

“The swish of the wings of Time

Going farther and farther away

Whispers to us from the stove (kiuas)”

-Helmer Selin

“The sauna door creaked.
Wood rubbed wood
Cold and warm mingled
with past and present.

Warmth enveloped us.
The window to the dressing room
clouded over. The steam
of generations filled the room.”
- The Sauna, by David Salmela

“Sauna has also seen unprecedented growth in the United States, and my own preoccupation with this growth is the fear that our genius for efficiency and oversimplification may lead to an adulteration of sauna’s time-honored customs and benefits.” - Cecil Ellis

“Modern refinements such as marble pools, enamel bathtubs, showers, and nickel pipes have no place in the sauna. The inside of the bath house must not even be oiled, timber and rough boards being the best materials for it.” — H.J. Viherjuuri, Sauna: The Finnish Bath

Anger cools in the sauna,

Resentment fades away

— Traditional Finnish couplet