Quotes by

Paul Theroux

The realization that he is white in a black country, and respected for it, is the turning point in the expatriates career. He can either forget it, or capitalize on it. Most choose the latter. – Paul Theroux

Tourists dont know where theyve been, travelers dont know where theyre going. – Paul Theroux

Travel works best when youre forced to come to terms with the place youre in. – Paul Theroux

A travel book is about someone who goes somewhere, travels on the ground, sees something and spends quite a lot of time doing it, and has a hard time, and then comes back and writes about it. Its not about inventing. – Paul Theroux

Mark Twain was a great traveler and he wrote three or four great travel books. I wouldnt say that Im a travel novelist but rather a novelist who travels – and who uses travel as a background for finding stories of places. – Paul Theroux

The Peace Corps is a sort of Howard Johnsons on the main drag into maturity. – Paul Theroux

When I was in the Peace Corps I never made a phone call. I was in Central Africa I didnt make a phone call for two years. I was in Uganda for another four years and I didnt make a phone call. So for six years I didnt make a phone call, but I wrote letters, I wrote short stories, I wrote books. – Paul Theroux

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

If youre a misanthrope you stay at home. There are certain writers who really dont like other people. Im not like that, I dont think. – Paul Theroux

Friendship is also about liking a person for their failings, their weakness. Its also about mutual help, not about exploitation. – Paul Theroux

You define a good flight by negatives: you didnt get hijacked, you didnt crash, you didnt throw up, you werent late, you werent nauseated by the food. So you are grateful. – 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 Ive gone on. I certainly dont feel I need his approval, although maybe thats because Im confident that Ive got it. – Paul Theroux

The people of Hong Kong are criticized for only being interested in business, but its the only thing theyve been allowed to do. – Paul Theroux

Its only when youre alone that you realize where you are. You have nothing to fall back on except your own resources. – Paul Theroux

Travel is glamorous only in retrospect. – Paul Theroux

Extensive traveling induces a feeling of encapsulation, and travel, so broadening at first, contracts the mind. – Paul Theroux

The amount of hassle involved in travel can be overwhelming. – Paul Theroux

When I began to make some money, I really wanted to have a home. – Paul Theroux

Death is an endless night so awful to contemplate that it can make us love life and value it with such passion that it may be the ultimate cause of all joy and all art. – Paul Theroux