Paul Theroux Quotes

American - Novelist Born: April 10, 1941

I am happy being what I am.

I Am, Happy, I Am Happy, Being, Am

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.'

Life, Work, Love, Moment, Hope, Happy

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. - Paul Theroux

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.

Winter, Preparation, Recovery, Season

I like the idea of isolation, I like the idea of solitude. You can be connected and have a phone and still be lonely.

Solitude, You, Lonely, Phone, Isolation

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.

Life, Love, Children, Travel, Thinking

I'm not pessimistic about Africa. The cities just seem big and hopeless. But there's still a great green heart where there's possibility. There's hope in the wilderness.

Hope, Heart, Great, Green, Wilderness

There are probably more annoying things than being hectored about African development by a wealthy Irish rock star in a cowboy hat, but I can't think of one at the moment.

Moment, Think, Hat, Rock, Development

Friendship is also about liking a person for their failings, their weakness. It's also about mutual help, not about exploitation.

Friendship, Weakness, Help, Person, Also

My record was so bad that I was first rejected by the Peace Corps as a poor risk and possible troublemaker and was accepted as a volunteer only after a great deal of explaining and arguing.

Great, Peace, Bad, Poor, Risk, Possible

Travel magazines are just one cupcake after another. They're not about travel. The travel magazine is, in fact, about the opposite of travel. It's about having a nice time on a honeymoon, or whatever.

Time, Travel, Nice, Honeymoon, Whatever

Top 10
Paul Theroux
Quotes

Hawaii is not a state of mind, but a state of grace.

Mind, Grace, Hawaii, State

What draws me in is that a trip is a leap in the dark. It's like a metaphor for life. You set off from home, and in the classic travel book, you go to an unknown place. You discover a different world, and you discover yourself.

Life, Home, Yourself, Travel, Me, World

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.

Live, People, World, See, Everyone, Side

Maine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter.

Soul, Winter, Summer, Joy, More, Maine

I believe I have a sunny disposition, and am not naturally a grouch. It takes a lot of optimism, after all, to be a traveler.

Believe, Optimism, Sunny, I Believe, Lot

When I went to Hong Kong, I knew at once I wanted to write a story set there.

Story, Hong Kong, Write, Once, Wanted

The travel impulse is mental and physical curiosity. It's a passion. And I can't understand people who don't want to travel.

Passion, Travel, People, Curiosity, Want

Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going.

Travel, Know, Been, Going, Where

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.

River, World, Mountains, Greatest, Nile

I cannot make my days longer so I strive to make them better.

Better, Them, Days, Strive, Cannot, Make

Gain a modest reputation for being unreliable and you will never be asked to do a thing.

You, Reputation, Never, Will, Gain

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

Travel, Mind, Feeling, First, Contracts

I have always felt that the truth is prophetic, and that if you describe precisely what you see and give it life with your imagination, then what you write ought to have lasting value, no matter what the mood of your prose.

Life, Truth, Imagination, You, Value

I think I understand passion. Love is something else.

Love, Passion, Love Is, Think, Something

The pleasure a reader gets is often equal to the pleasure a writer is given.

Pleasure, Equal, Writer, Often, Gets

Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.

Travel, Only, Glamorous, Retrospect

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