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 THEROUXOne of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book yours.
More Paul Theroux Quotes
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Ever since childhood, when I lived within earshot of the Boston and Maine, I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.
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I don’t think that it’s possible to have a truly rewarding experience in travel if it’s simple.
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You can’t want to be a writer. You have to be one.
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Extensive traveling induces a feeling of encapsulation, and travel, so broadening at first, contracts the mind.
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If you’re a misanthrope you stay at home. There are certain writers who really don’t like other people. I’m not like that, I don’t think.
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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.
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Even if I were traveling with you, your trip would not be mine.
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One of the cardinal principles of Buddhism, the principle of neglect.
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One of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book yours.
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…a society without jaywalkers might indicate a society without artists.
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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.
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The Australian Book of Etiquette is a very slim volume.
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I always found myself in the company of Australians, who were like a reminder that I’d touched bottom.
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It is almost axiomatic that the worst trains take you through magical places.
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It might be said that a great unstated reason for travel is to find places that exemplify where one has been happiest. Looking for idealised versions of home-indeed, looking for the perfect memory.
PAUL THEROUX






