“I had, of course, witnessed hundreds of people in a casino before, mindlessly dropping coins into slot machines. They don't play for money in America. It's true. The big payout is incidental to most gamblers. It's the numbness they're after.… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“The longer we spent on Tarawa the more Sylvia and I came to realize that to live on Tarawa is to experience a visceral… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“When it comes to naming things, vanity and flattery are dull motivations best suited for deciding on a child’s middle name. Much more interesting… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
Like many air travelers, I am aware that airplanes fly aided by capricious fairies and invisible strings. — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“Christopher Hitchens once said that he drinks “because it makes other people less boring.” — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“for what is life, a good life, but the accumulation of small pleasures?” — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
I was simply restless, quite likely because of a dissatisfaction with the recent trajectory of my life, and if there is a better, more… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“It was, to reiterate, to stress, to accentuate the point, to leave no doubt, hot.” — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“Look for a wave shaped like an A. An A . Hmm. I saw Zs and H's and Vs . I saw the Hindi… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
Personally I regard idling as a virtue, but civilized society holds otherwise. — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
Like many highly educated people, I didn't have much in the way of actual skills. — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“It is an unfortunate reality for innate idlers that our modern world requires one to hold a job to maintain a sustainable existence. Idling,… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“Seriously. There were three of them, all roughly in their thirties, and they spent their time traveling the world, putting together documentaries about the… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“I made arrangements with Bitaki, a teammate on the soccer team I played with, to go fishing with his brothers, who typically worked the… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
“i'm off to an island nation where formal wear consists of a leaf tired around a penis.” — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
It is often said that Americans have no sense of history. Ask a college student who Jimmy Carter was and they will likely reply… — J. Maarten Troost Copy Share Image
