---
title: "5 Travel Book Quotes By Paul Theroux"
description: "5 Travel Book quotes by Paul Theroux. Plus more from Paul Theroux and more Travel Book sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/paul-theroux-913_autobiography_travel-books-are-all-sorts-some-are-auto_560153.jpg"
---

> [Travel books are all sorts - some are autobiographies, some are about falling in love. Some are about having great meals, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/travel-books-are-all-sorts-some-are-autobiographies-some-are-about/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/paul-theroux-913_autobiography_travel-books-are-all-sorts-some-are-auto_560153.jpg)

> [A travel book is a book that puts you in the shoes of the traveler, and it's usually a book about having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/a-travel-book-is-a-book-that-puts-you-in-the-shoes-of-the-traveler/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/paul-theroux-913_arctic_a-travel-book-is-a-book-that-puts-you-in_934785.jpg)

> [A travel book is a book that puts you in the shoes of the traveler, and it's usually a book about having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/a-travel-book-is-a-book-that-puts-you-in-the-shoes-of-the-traveler-2/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/155/paul-theroux-913_about_a-travel-book-is-a-book-that-puts-you-in_1890324.jpg)

> [A travel book is about someone who goes somewhere, travels on the ground, sees something and spends quite a lot of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/a-travel-book-is-about-someone-who-goes-somewhere-travels-on-the/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/692/paul-theroux-913_book_a-travel-book-is-about-someone-who-goes_2761679.jpg)

> [What draws me in is that a trip is a leap in the dark. It's like a metaphor for life. You set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/what-draws-me-in-is-that-a-trip-is-a-leap-in-the-dark-it-s-like-a/)

[Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f13/paul-theroux-913_book_what-draws-me-in-is-that-a-trip-is-a-lea_3038129.jpg)

## 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/)

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