Paul Theroux

The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness.

I sought trains; I found passengers.

You define a good flight by negatives: you didn’t get hijacked, you didn’t crash, you didn’t throw up, you weren’t late, you weren’t nauseated by the food. So you are grateful.

Tightfisted people are as mean with friendship as they are with cash--suspicious, unbelieving, and incurious.

You have to find out for yourself. Take the leap. Go as far as you can. Try staying out of touch. Become a stranger in a strange land. Acquire humility. Learn the language. Listen to what people are saying.

Even the most distant and exotic place has its parallel in ordinary life.

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

You must not judge people by their country. In South America, it is always wise to judge people by their altitude.

In many ways connection has been disastrous. We have confused information (of which there has been too much of) with ideas (of which there are too few. I found out much more about the world and myself by being unconnected.