--- title: "9 Tourists Quotes By Paul Theroux" description: "9 Tourists quotes by Paul Theroux. Plus more from Paul Theroux and more Tourists sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/766/paul-theroux-913_glorified_i-m-a-tourist-a-glorified-tourist-i-m-no_2320901.jpg" --- > [I'm a tourist, a glorified tourist. I'm not doing it to have a good time or to lie in the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/i-m-a-tourist-a-glorified-tourist-i-m-not-doing-it-to-have-a-good/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/766/paul-theroux-913_glorified_i-m-a-tourist-a-glorified-tourist-i-m-no_2320901.jpg) > [A place that doesn't welcome tourists, that's really difficult and off the map, is a place I want to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/a-place-that-doesn-t-welcome-tourists-that-s-really-difficult-and-off/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77a/paul-theroux-913_difficult_a-place-that-doesn-t-welcome-tourists-th_1669421.jpg) > [“Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going. Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/tourists-don-t-know-where-they-ve-been-travelers-don-t-know-where-2/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/paul-theroux-913_tourists_tourists-don-t-know-where-they-ve-been-t_2404564.jpg) > [There are two worlds: the world of the tourist and the world of everyone else. Often they're side by side. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/there-are-two-worlds-the-world-of-the-tourist-and-the-world-of/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb8/paul-theroux-913_actually_there-are-two-worlds-the-world-of-the-to_1842939.jpg) > [“Many travelers are essentially fantasists. Tourists are timid fantasists, the others - risk takers - are bold fantasists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/many-travelers-are-essentially-fantasists-tourists-are-timid/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64a/paul-theroux-913_risk-takers_many-travelers-are-essentially-fantasist_1904360.jpg) > [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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/paul-theroux-913_africans_tourists-who-go-to-africa-have-more-of-a_51020.jpg) > [Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/tourists-don-t-know-where-they-ve-been-travelers-don-t-know-where/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a45/paul-theroux-913_tourists_tourists-don-t-know-where-they-ve-been-t_758113.jpg) > [I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-hawaii-where-we-have-7-million/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49e/paul-theroux-913_down_i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-h_641326.jpg) > [“Many travelers are essentially fantasists. Tourists are timid fantasists, the others - risk takers - are bold fantasists. The tourists at Etosha…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/many-travelers-are-essentially-fantasists-tourists-are-timid-2/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/439/paul-theroux-913_africa_many-travelers-are-essentially-fantasist_2637140.jpg) ## Other authors on Tourists - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-fran-lebowitz-35316.jpg) Fran Lebowitz 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourists/fran-lebowitz/) ## 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/tourists/paul-theroux/#itemlist", "name": "9 Tourists Quotes By Paul Theroux", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm a tourist, a glorified tourist. 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I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there, there would be no economy. So I understand why a tourist economy is necessary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Theroux" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-hawaii-where-we-have-7-million/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49e/paul-theroux-913_down_i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-h_641326.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49e/paul-theroux-913_down_i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-h_641326.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49e/paul-theroux-913_down_i-don-t-look-down-on-tourism-i-live-in-h_641326.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't…” — Paul Theroux", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Many travelers are essentially fantasists. Tourists are timid fantasists, the others - risk takers - are bold fantasists. The tourists at Etosha conjure up a fantastic Africa after their nightly dinner by walking to the fence at the hotel-managed waterhole to stare at the rhinos and lions and eland coming to drink: a glimpse of wild nature with overhead floodlights. 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