At my age – which is way past retirement – if you haven’t found a person and a place you love, a house that suits you, an ideal bed, a perfect armchair, the books you value, a bit of garden, and something like comfort – you have my sympathy.
Paul Theroux on Blogging
You could say blog-like, but I think “blog-like” is a disparaging term. I loathe blogs when I look at them. Blogs look to me illiterate, they look hasty, like someone babbling. To me writing is a considered act. It’s something which is a great labor of thought and consideration. A blog doesn’t seem to have any literary merit at all. It’s a chatty account of things that have happened to that particular person.
~ Paul Theroux / The Atlantic
Paul Theroux on Travel
“Travel is only glamorous in retrospect.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Power
The curfew — three years into my time in Africa — was my initiation into the misuse of power, of greed, cowardice and selfishness; as well as, also, their opposites — compassion, bravery, mutual aid and generosity.
~ Paul Theroux / NYT, 30th March 2020
Paul Theroux on Not Coming Back
You go away for a long time and return a different person – you never come all the way back.
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Time
He was building a raft, which he said he was going to sail around the country. I asked, ‘Do you think you can do it?’ He said, ‘You can go anywhere if you’re not in a hurry.’
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Reliability
“Gain a modest reputation for being unreliable and you will never be asked to do a thing.”
Paul Theroux on Enough
“In travel, as in many other experiences in life, once is usually enough.”
~Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Aimlessness
“An aimless joy is a pure joy,” I said, quoting Yeats.
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Britain
“But what I liked in Aberdeen was what I liked generally in Britain: the bread, the fish, the cheese, the flower gardens, the apples, the clouds, the newspapers, the beer, the woolen cloth, the radio programmes, the parks, the Indian restaurants and amateur dramatics, the postal service, the fresh vegetables, the trains, and the modesty and truthfulness of people.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Defeat
“…Borges, who said, “Defeat has a dignity which noisy victory does not deserve.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Serenity
“He was serene, fulfilled, the real thing, the person no one wants to hear about, a happy man.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Patience
“There’s always a way if you’re not in a hurry.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Compassion
“The measure of civilized behavior is compassion.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Life
“I cannot make my days longer, so I strive to make them better.”
Paul Theroux on Travel
“You go away for a long time and return a different person – you never come all the way back.”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Travel
“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.”
~
Paul Theroux on Muddles
“Don’t think you’re special just because of your muddle.”
~ Paul Theroux / My Other Life
Paul Theroux on Travel
“Travel is both a desire to flee and a desire for pursuit…”
~ Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux on Being a Writer
And what was it that I most liked about my work? That I had no boss, no employees, no rivals, no competitors—the freedom of being a writer? That it was a way of dealing with my life, transforming my experiences, finding ways to understand it—recording life’s joys, making its tribulations bearable, and also, in writing, easing the passage of time? Making a living this way, my own way, self-employed—that was something to like.
Paul Theroux / On the Plain of Snakes
Paul Theroux on Belief
Belief gains strength in the absence of facts.
Paul Theroux / On the Plain of Snakes
Paul Theroux on Art
…but I felt that for art, for writing, for anything creative to have value, it must be passionate and personal.
Paul Theroux / On the Plain of Snakes
Paul Theroux on Hotels
“I dislike the accumulated karma in hotel rooms, the much-used mattresses.”
~ Paul Theroux / Star Tribune, May 4th 2018
Paul Theroux on Writing
“A good writer has no need of a journal.”
“The more you write, the more you’re capable of writing.”
~ Paul Theroux / Telegraph, 12 July, 2005
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3645024/I-have-led-a-messy-life.html