Home is always the impossible subject, multilayered and maddening. Paul Theroux More Quotes by Paul Theroux More Quotes From Paul Theroux You can't write about a friend, you can only write about a former friend. Paul Theroux former-friends former writing You may not know it but I'm no good at coping with all the attention in the luxury hotels I sometimes find myself in. Paul Theroux luxury-hotels may attention I know there are writers who feel unhappy with domesticity and who even manufacture domestic turmoil in order to have something to write about. With me, though, the happier I feel, the better I write. Paul Theroux unhappy writing order In countries where all the crooked politicians wear pin-striped suits, the best people are bare-assed. Paul Theroux suits country people Nothing to me is so erotic as a hotel room, and therefore so penetrated with life and death. Paul Theroux erotic life-and-death rooms When I left Africa in 1966 it seemed to me to be a place that was developing, going in a particular direction, and I don't think that is the case now. And it's a place where people still kid themselves - you know, in a few years this will happen or that will happen. Well, it's not going to happen. It's never going to happen. Paul Theroux kids years thinking The journey, not the arrival, matters; the voyage, not the landing. Paul Theroux voyages journey matter Railways are irresistible bazaars, snaking along perfectly level no matter what the landscape, improving your mood with speed, and never upsetting your drink. Paul Theroux bazaars upset travel Truly, the worst trains take one across the best landscapes. Paul Theroux landscape worst travel One thing about cold weather: it brings out the statistician in everyone. Paul Theroux statistician cold weather Writing ... is practically the only activity a person can do that is not competitive. Paul Theroux persons can-do writing Every country has the writers she requires and deserves, which is why Nicaragua, in two hundred years of literacy, has produced one writer-a mediocre poet. Paul Theroux writing country years The realization that he is white in a black country, and respected for it, is the turning point in the expatriate's career. He can either forget it, or capitalize on it. Most choose the latter. Paul Theroux careers white country Men in their late 50s often make very bad decisions. Paul Theroux bad-decision decision men The pleasure a reader gets is often equal to the pleasure a writer is given. Paul Theroux equal pleasure given When I began to make some money, I really wanted to have a home. Paul Theroux wanted home The moment that changed me for ever was the moment my first child was born. I was happy, filled with hope, and thought, 'Now I understand the whole point of work, of life, of love. Paul Theroux moments children firsts 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. Paul Theroux dad writing needs When I write about my childhood I think, oh my God, how did I ever get from there to here? Not that any great thing has happened to me. But I felt so tiny, so lost. Paul Theroux childhood writing thinking ... Oceanic malaise. I never saw anyone reading anything more demanding than a comic book. I never heard any youth express an interest in science or art. No one even talked politics. It was all idleness, and whenever I asked someone a question, no matter how simple, no matter how well the person spoke English, there was always a long pause before I got a reply, and I found these Pacific pauses maddening. And there was giggling but no humor - no wit. It was just foolery. Paul Theroux reading book art
