Although I'm not fluent in sign language by a long way, I could have a fairly decent conversation. Paul Theroux More Quotes by Paul Theroux More Quotes From Paul Theroux A French traveler with a sore throat is a wonderful thing to behold, but it takes more than tonsillitis to prevent a Frenchman from boasting. Paul Theroux sore-throattravelerwonderful Delay and dirt are the realities of the most rewarding travel. Paul Theroux delayrealitytravel In the best travel books the word alone is implied on every exciting page, as subtle and ineradicable as a watermark. Paul Theroux readingbooktravel The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining car, and the certain knowledge that neither of us would see each other again. Paul Theroux carjourneypeople Sightseeing was ... based on imaginative invention, like rehearsing your own play in stage sets from which all the actors had fled. Paul Theroux inventionactorsplay Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. Paul Theroux recoverypreparationwinter A person who is tired of London is not necessarily tired of life; it might be that he just can’t find a parking place. Paul Theroux tiredlondonmight 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. Paul Theroux simplejourneymorning Sometimes people read a book in order to not go on a trip. You read a book instead of going on the trip. And so the travel writer is doing the traveling for you. Paul Theroux orderbookpeople The United States is a world unto itself. We have mountains, we have deserts, we have a river that equals the Yangtze River, that equals the Nile. We have the greatest cities in the world - among the greatest cities in the world. We have a large population. We have challenges. We have an indigenous population. Paul Theroux citieschallengesrivers You can't save the rhinos and you can't preserve a culture. I'm very pessimistic. Once it's gone, it's over. Paul Theroux rhinosgoneculture Tibet has a very proud people but it's culturally gone and overrun ever since the Chinese took over. It's like saving the rhino. When a species is endangered, it's gone. Paul Theroux rhinoschinesepeople Albania in 1994 was the strangest place I've ever seen. It was like walking into the looking glass: falling apart, paranoid people, anarchy, no one farming, full of thieves. It was beyond any Third World country. They were living in their own private nightmare. Paul Theroux glassescountryfall 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. Paul Theroux life-lessongood-luckbook There's a lot of sensuality that I associate with travel. And that's romance. Paul Theroux associatessensualityromance Travel books are all sorts - some are autobiographies, some are about falling in love. Some are about having great meals, some are about suffering. There are as many different kinds of travel books as there are novels. People think a travel book is one thing. It's many things. Paul Theroux falling-in-lovebookthinking I grew up in an era of thinking of travel as escape. The idea that you could conceivably have a new life, go somewhere, fall in love, have little children under the palm trees. Paul Theroux falling-in-lovechildrenthinking There are two worlds: the world of the tourist and the world of everyone else. Often they're side by side. But the tourist doesn't actually see how people live. Paul Theroux touriststwopeople One of the upsides of tourism is that people begin to take themselves a little more seriously (and think their) culture is worth something. So rather than disparaging the local culture, they vitalize it. Paul Theroux tourismpeoplethinking I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there, there would be no economy. So I understand why a tourist economy is necessary. Paul Theroux hawaiilooksyears
