--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In an underdeveloped country don't drink…" description: "\"In an underdeveloped country don't drink the water. In a developed country don't breathe the air.\" — Jonathan Raban" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-raban-11981_air_in-an-underdeveloped-country-don-t-drink_1967511.jpg" --- # In an underdeveloped country don't drink the water. In a… ![“In an underdeveloped country don't drink the water. In a developed country don't breathe the air.” quote by Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-raban-11981_air_in-an-underdeveloped-country-don-t-drink_1967511.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-raban-11981_air_in-an-underdeveloped-country-don-t-drink_1967511.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-raban-11981_air_in-an-underdeveloped-country-don-t-drink_1967511.jpg) > “In an underdeveloped country don't drink the water. In a developed country don't breathe the air.” [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We must adapt health habits to local environmental risks, recognizing that safety standards vary worldwide. **In simple terms:** Adapt habits to local risks. Key Takeaway Adjust behavior based on environment. Themes health environment adaptation Mood cautious reflective Type advice observational When to use this quote - travel - relocation - expatriate life - public health planning Key Concepts risk assessment global health Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess environmental safety when moving? - What habits can you change to stay safe? A Different Perspective Local standards may be misleading; personal vigilance still needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Developed country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/developed-country/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [The more underdeveloped the country, the more overdeveloped the women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-more-underdeveloped-the-country-the-more-overdeveloped-the-women/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [I was sure I was going to be a doctor of global health or tropical medicine in some underdeveloped country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-r-insel/i-was-sure-i-was-going-to-be-a-doctor-of-global-health-or-tropical/) [Thomas R. Insel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-r-insel/) > [Mississippi is akin to an underdeveloped country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-espy/mississippi-is-akin-to-an-underdeveloped-country/) [Mike Espy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-espy/) > [In the field of snobbery, Australia is an underdeveloped country; even a few British ex-colonies, regarded as under developed in all other respects, could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mikes/in-the-field-of-snobbery-australia-is-an-underdeveloped-country-even/) [George Mikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mikes/) > [India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/india-is-not-as-people-keep-calling-it-an-underdeveloped-country-but/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [ Do you think I can read \[Alain\] Robbe-Grillet in an underdeveloped country? He does not feel himself maimed. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/do-you-think-i-can-read-alain-robbe-grillet-in-an-underdeveloped/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Just like how most if not all poor boys look up to and aspire to someday be rich men, most if not all underdeveloped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/just-like-how-most-if-not-all-poor-boys-look-up-to-and-aspire-to/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Vietnam remains an underdeveloped economy with a high poverty incidence, ... party, people and army will continue to stand united and ... turn Vietnam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/vietnam-remains-an-underdeveloped-economy-with-a-high-poverty/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Anglo-Saxon world saw India as an underdeveloped country. The land of snake charmers, the cows on the street, that "ex-colony-backward-nation" kind of viewpoint,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir-bedi/the-anglo-saxon-world-saw-india-as-an-underdeveloped-country-the-land/) [Kabir Bedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir-bedi/) > [What Asia's postwar economic miracle demonstrates is that capitalism is a path toward economic development that is potentially available to all countries. 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Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-c-blair/) > [Every good government's duty is to do more for the regions that are underdeveloped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-shah/every-good-government-s-duty-is-to-do-more-for-the-regions-that-are/) [Amit Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-shah/) > [Inhabitants of underdeveloped nations and victims of natural disasters are the only people who have ever been happy to see soybeans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/inhabitants-of-underdeveloped-nations-and-victims-of-natural/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Societies in which most people depend for most of their goods and services on the personal whim, kindness, or skill of another are called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/societies-in-which-most-people-depend-for-most-of-their-goods-and/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) ## More by Jonathan Raban > [No president has come near to rivaling Lincoln as a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/no-president-has-come-near-to-rivaling-lincoln-as-a-writer/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [All this piling up of one technology on top of another-railroad on steamboat, interstate highway on railroad, hydroelectric dam on watermill-had reduced the Mississippi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/all-this-piling-up-of-one-technology-on-top-of-another-railroad-on/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [Life, as the most ancient of all metaphors insists, is a journey; and the travel book, in its deceptive simulation of the journey's fits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/life-as-the-most-ancient-of-all-metaphors-insists-is-a-journey-and/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [Inaugurals conventionally start with a history lesson and finish with a prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/inaugurals-conventionally-start-with-a-history-lesson-and-finish-with/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [When New Yorkers tell one about the dangers of their city, the muggings, the dinner parties to which no one turns up for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/when-new-yorkers-tell-one-about-the-dangers-of-their-city-the/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [ My new city \[Seattle\] and its hinterland felt deceptively homely. 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The life I lived in books was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/books-admitted-me-to-their-world-open-handedly-as-people-for-their/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [One of the oddest features of western Christianized culture is its ready acceptance of the myth of the stable family and the happy marriage.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/one-of-the-oddest-features-of-western-christianized-culture-is-its/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) [Explore all 57 Jonathan Raban quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. 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But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. 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