--- title: "4 Asia Quotes By Dervla Murphy" description: "4 Asia quotes by Dervla Murphy. Plus more from Dervla Murphy and more Asia sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/dervla-murphy-20135_afghans_undoubtedly-the-afghans-must-be-by-our-s_775579.png" --- > [Undoubtedly the Afghans must be, by our standards, the best-looking people in the world. They have everything; height, proportions, carriage, features and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/undoubtedly-the-afghans-must-be-by-our-standards-the-best-looking/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e14/dervla-murphy-20135_afghans_undoubtedly-the-afghans-must-be-by-our-s_775579.png) > [With our mad lust for Uniformity and a Higher Standard of Living and Expanding Markets, we go to a country like Afghanistan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/with-our-mad-lust-for-uniformity-and-a-higher-standard-of-living-and/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/dervla-murphy-20135_afghanistan_with-our-mad-lust-for-uniformity-and-a-h_2419226.png) > [This is a city of absolute enchantment in the literal sense of the word. It loosens all the bonds binding the traveller…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/this-is-a-city-of-absolute-enchantment-in-the-literal-sense-of-the/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/220/dervla-murphy-20135_absolutes_this-is-a-city-of-absolute-enchantment-i_2599772.jpg) > [The more I see of life in these 'undeveloped countries' and of the methods adopted to 'improve' them, the more depressed I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/the-more-i-see-of-life-in-these-undeveloped-countries-and-of-the/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fef/dervla-murphy-20135_adopted_the-more-i-see-of-life-in-these-undevelo_3134317.png) ## Other authors on Asia - [Gerry Abbey 8 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/gerry-abbey/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/barack-obama/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-martin-jacques-64730.jpg) Martin Jacques 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/martin-jacques/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-lee-hsien-loong-59290.jpg) Lee Hsien Loong 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/lee-hsien-loong/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-hillary-clinton-42043.jpg) Hillary Clinton 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/hillary-clinton/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-amartya-sen-12176.jpg) Amartya Sen 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/amartya-sen/) ## More by Dervla Murphy > [“Even a brief glimpse of what we were is valuable to help understand what we are”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/even-a-brief-glimpse-of-what-we-were-is-valuable-to-help-understand/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [one feels guilty on behalf of Western civilisation. What damage are we doing, blindly and swiftly, to those races who are being taught that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/one-feels-guilty-on-behalf-of-western-civilisation-what-damage-are-we/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [The Irish have a flair for wringing from death the last drop of emotion and they do not quite understand those who react otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/the-irish-have-a-flair-for-wringing-from-death-the-last-drop-of/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [On my tenth birthday a bicycle and an atlas coincided as presents and a few days later I decided to cycle to India.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/on-my-tenth-birthday-a-bicycle-and-an-atlas-coincided-as-presents-and/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [Undoubtedly the Afghans must be, by our standards, the best-looking people in the world. They have everything; height, proportions, carriage, features and complexion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/undoubtedly-the-afghans-must-be-by-our-standards-the-best-looking/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [“I thank God for my sanguine temperament, which refuses to allow me to believe in disaster until it is finally manifest”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/i-thank-god-for-my-sanguine-temperament-which-refuses-to-allow-me-to/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [ \[On Addis Ababa:\] Among the city's handicaps are an immaturity for which no one can be blamed, as it was founded only eighty years… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/on-addis-ababa-among-the-city-s-handicaps-are-an-immaturity-for-which/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [Buying a bicycle is a momentous event, akin to marriage: you are acquiring a partner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/buying-a-bicycle-is-a-momentous-event-akin-to-marriage-you-are/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [one of the advantages of cycling is that it automatically prevents a journey from becoming an Expedition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/one-of-the-advantages-of-cycling-is-that-it-automatically-prevents-a/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [hatred, however apparently justifiable, excusable or inevitable, always damages the hater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/hatred-however-apparently-justifiable-excusable-or-inevitable-always/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [On my tenth birthday a bicycle and an atlas coincided as gifts, and a few days later I decided to cycle to India...However, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/on-my-tenth-birthday-a-bicycle-and-an-atlas-coincided-as-gifts-and-a/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [Is this something else our age does - on the one hand make communication easier than ever before, while on the other hand widening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/is-this-something-else-our-age-does-on-the-one-hand-make/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [apartheid still hangs in the air like a poisonous cloud left over from chemical warfare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/apartheid-still-hangs-in-the-air-like-a-poisonous-cloud-left-over/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [the sudden violent dispossession accompanying a refugee flight is much more than the loss of a permanent home and a traditional occupation, or than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/the-sudden-violent-dispossession-accompanying-a-refugee-flight-is/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [... strong bonds are forged in high emotional temperatures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/strong-bonds-are-forged-in-high-emotional-temperatures/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asia/dervla-murphy/#itemlist", "name": "4 Asia Quotes By Dervla Murphy", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Undoubtedly the Afghans must be, by our standards, the best-looking people in the world. 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It loosens all the bonds binding the traveller to his own age and sets him free to live in a past that is vital and crude but never ugly. Herat is as old as history and as moving as a great epic poem - if Afghanistan had nothing else it would have been worth coming to experience this.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dervla Murphy" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/this-is-a-city-of-absolute-enchantment-in-the-literal-sense-of-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/220/dervla-murphy-20135_absolutes_this-is-a-city-of-absolute-enchantment-i_2599772.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/220/dervla-murphy-20135_absolutes_this-is-a-city-of-absolute-enchantment-i_2599772.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/220/dervla-murphy-20135_absolutes_this-is-a-city-of-absolute-enchantment-i_2599772.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is a city of absolute enchantment in the literal sense of the word. 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