“When I'm writing, I like to travel alone. If you really want to find out about a place, you need to be as free as possible to be spontaneous. You also need to be lonely, because loneliness is a great teacher, too.” IfsWantNeedsWritingTeacherLonelinessLonelySpontaneousGreat TeacherBe Spontaneous Author:Paul Theroux
“I said I didn't think it would be a collectivist state so much as a wilderness in which most people lived hand to mouth, and the rich would live like princes - better than the rich had ever lived, except that their lives would constantly be in danger from the hungry predatory poor. All the technology would serve the rich, but they would need it for their own protection and to assure their continued prosperity.” PeopleThinkingNeedsSaidStatesHandsWould BePoorTechnologyRichDangerMouthsProsperityProtectionHungryWildernessPredatory Book:To the Ends of the Earth: The Selected Travels of Paul Theroux Source: To the Ends of the Earth: The Selected Travels of Paul Theroux
“Unless there is a strong sense of place there is no travel writing, but it need not come from topographical description; dialogue can also convey a sense of place. Even so, I insist, the traveler invents the place. Feeling compelled to comment on my travel books, people say to me, "I went there"---China, India, the Pacific, Albania-- "and it wasn't like that." I say, "Because I am not you.” PeopleNeedsWritingBookFeelingsStrongIndiaChinaDialogueDescriptionCommentTravelerCompelledPacificTravel WritingSense Of PlaceAlbaniaTravel Books Book:The Best American Travel Writing 2001 Source: The Best American Travel Writing 2001
“Travel is about failure or overcoming obstacles, overcoming failures. When a traveler is having lots of good luck, that is not a happy book. That's a book you say, well, I don't need that. I want a life lesson. I want to find out - I want a journey that reflects my life.” WantNeedsWellsBookJourneyLessonsOvercomingLuckObstaclesLife LessonTravelerGood LuckOvercoming Failure Author:Paul Theroux
“When you travel you realize how small you are. You need to be humble. You can't be a big, brash American. You think you have problems. You leave the States and you see people have bigger problems than you, much worse problems than you. They have nothing to eat, they have no water, they have no shelter, they have a terrible government. So you realize we complain about the government, we complain about food, whatever it is, and go somewhere else and you think, "Now I realize," you say, "Why people want to come to America."” PeopleThinkingWantNeedsStatesProblemBigsGovernmentAmericaWaterRealizingTerribleBiggerHumbleComplainingShelterSomewhere ElseBe HumbleBrashBigger Problems Author:Paul Theroux
“There is an intense but simple thrill in setting off in the morning on a mountain trail, knowing that everything you need is on your back. It is a confidence in having left the inessentials behind and of entering a world of natural beauty that has not been violated, where money has no value, and possessions are a dead weight. The person with the fewest possessions is the freest. Thoreau was right.” WorldNeedsPersonsValuesLeftNaturalSimpleWalksBehindsMorningKnowingJourneyWalkingMountainWeightPossessionIntenseSettingSettingsWanderHikingThrillEnteringTrailsTrekkingStrollingSaunteringBackpacking Author:Paul Theroux
“When I started writing, I did have some idealised notion of my dad as a writer. But I have less and less of a literary rivalry with him as I've gone on. I certainly don't feel I need his approval, although maybe that's because I'm confident that I've got it.” NeedsFeelsWritingGoneDadNotionMy DadApprovalRivalry Author:Paul Theroux
