--- title: "3 Imaginative Quotes By Paul Theroux" description: "3 Imaginative quotes by Paul Theroux. Plus more from Paul Theroux and more Imaginative sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b86/paul-theroux-913_activity_so-far-i-had-been-travelling-alone-with_418006.jpg" --- > [So far I had been travelling alone with my handbook and my Western Railway timetable: I was happiest finding my own way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/so-far-i-had-been-travelling-alone-with-my-handbook-and-my-western/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b86/paul-theroux-913_activity_so-far-i-had-been-travelling-alone-with_418006.jpg) > [Sightseeing was ... based on imaginative invention, like rehearsing your own play in stage sets from which all the actors had fled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/sightseeing-was-based-on-imaginative-invention-like-rehearsing-your/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/540/paul-theroux-913_actors_sightseeing-was-based-on-imaginative-inv_1032427.jpg) > [The impulse to write comes, I think, from a desire - perhaps a need - to give imaginative life to experience, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-impulse-to-write-comes-i-think-from-a-desire-perhaps-a-need-to/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/paul-theroux-913_books_the-impulse-to-write-comes-i-think-from_1074851.jpg) ## Other authors on Imaginative - [Roman Payne 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/roman-payne/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-oscar-wilde-72846.jpg) Oscar Wilde 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Paul Theroux > [I feel as if my mission is to write, to see, to observe, and I feel lazy if I'm not reaching conclusions. I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/i-feel-as-if-my-mission-is-to-write-to-see-to-observe-and-i-feel-lazy/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [The larger an English industry was, the more likely it was to go bankrupt, because the English were not naturally corporate people; they disliked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-larger-an-english-industry-was-the-more-likely-it-was-to-go/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Maine out of season is unmistakably a great destination: hospitable, good-humored, plenty of elbow room, short days, dark nights of crackling ice crystals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/maine-out-of-season-is-unmistakably-a-great-destination-hospitable/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [You can't write about a friend, you can only write about a former friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/you-can-t-write-about-a-friend-you-can-only-write-about-a-former/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [“sightseeing, an activity that delights the truly idle because it seems so much like scholarship, gawping and eavesdropping on antiquity, flattering oneself with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/sightseeing-an-activity-that-delights-the-truly-idle-because-it-seems/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [The Australian Book of Etiquette is a very slim volume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-australian-book-of-etiquette-is-a-very-slim-volume/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Tourists who go to Africa have more of a traditional experience than Africans do. A tourist goes on safari; Africans don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/tourists-who-go-to-africa-have-more-of-a-traditional-experience-than/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [In a way, Che Guevara's fate was far worse than Simon Bolivar's. Guevara's collapse was complete: his intentions were forgotten, but his style was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/in-a-way-che-guevara-s-fate-was-far-worse-than-simon-bolivar-s/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [It is the simplest fact of Indian life: there are too many Indians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/it-is-the-simplest-fact-of-indian-life-there-are-too-many-indians/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Pain does not create a long-lasting memory, but the memory of luxury exerts itself for ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/pain-does-not-create-a-long-lasting-memory-but-the-memory-of-luxury/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [When I began to make some money, I really wanted to have a home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/when-i-began-to-make-some-money-i-really-wanted-to-have-a-home/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Men in their late 50s often make very bad decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/men-in-their-late-50s-often-make-very-bad-decisions/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [The wish to disappear sends many travelers away. If you are thoroughly sick of being kept waiting at home or at work, travel is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-wish-to-disappear-sends-many-travelers-away-if-you-are-thoroughly/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [To a lot of Africans, seeing an animal is a something of a rarity. So it's a paradox of this sort of parallel life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/to-a-lot-of-africans-seeing-an-animal-is-a-something-of-a-rarity-so/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-wish-to-travel-seems-to-me-characteristically-human-the-desire-to/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/paul-theroux/#itemlist", "name": "3 Imaginative Quotes By Paul Theroux", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So far I had been travelling alone with my handbook and my Western Railway timetable: I was happiest finding my own way and did not require a liaison man. 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