--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The conversation, like many others I had…" description: "\"The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining car, and the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg" --- # The conversation, like many others I had with people on… ![“The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining car, and the certain knowledge that neither of us would see each other again.” quote by Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg) > “The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining car, and the certain knowledge that neither of us would see each other again.” [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shared travel experiences foster honest conversation and fleeting intimacy. **In simple terms:** Travel creates candid, temporary bonds. Key Takeaway Embrace moments of connection in transit. Themes travel conversation transience Mood nostalgic reflective Type narrative philosophical When to use this quote - train journeys - road trips - airport lounges - group tours Key Concepts literature social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What lasting impact did a brief encounter have on you? - How does shared space influence openness? A Different Perspective These bonds often dissolve once the journey ends. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Candour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candour/) [Certain knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain-knowledge/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) ## Related quotes > [When the pursuit of natural harmony is a shared journey, great heights can be attained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-hill/when-the-pursuit-of-natural-harmony-is-a-shared-journey-great-heights/) [Lynn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-hill/) > [Everybody values their train, but they want to zero-out other people's trains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-walker/everybody-values-their-train-but-they-want-to-zero-out-other-people-s/) Bob Walker > [“In America, Fredericka, they don't really have trains for people. The trains here are used mainly to transport pigs, television sets, and fruit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/in-america-fredericka-they-don-t-really-have-trains-for-people-the/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [Every reader should remember the diffidence of Socrates, and repair by his candour the injuries of time: he should impute the seeming defects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/every-reader-should-remember-the-diffidence-of-socrates-and-repair-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough-one-meets-with-it-everywhere/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Candour is the brightest gem of criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-d-israeli/candour-is-the-brightest-gem-of-criticism/) [Isaac D'Israeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-d-israeli/) > [I'm not dripping with charisma like many of my friends are. But I do have candour, which is close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-brennan/i-m-not-dripping-with-charisma-like-many-of-my-friends-are-but-i-do/) [Neal Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-brennan/) > [A true party-man hates and despises candour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/a-true-party-man-hates-and-despises-candour/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Truth is, I'll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/truth-is-i-ll-never-know-all-there-is-to-know-about-you-just-as-you/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting government spending.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-callaghan/we-used-to-think-that-you-could-spend-your-way-out-of-a-recession-and/) [James Callaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-callaghan/) > [Such pretensions to nicety in experiments of this nature, are truly laughable! They will be telling us some day of the WEIGHT of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sutton-harrington/such-pretensions-to-nicety-in-experiments-of-this-nature-are-truly/) Robert Sutton Harrington > [We also believe candour benefits us as managers. The CEO who misleads often in public eventually misleads himself in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/we-also-believe-candour-benefits-us-as-managers-the-ceo-who-misleads/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [“That is what you love a friend for: the ability to change your angle of vision, bring back your best self when you feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/that-is-what-you-love-a-friend-for-the-ability-to-change-your-angle/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-know-you-do-and-it-is-that-which-makes-the-wonder-with-your-good/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough-one-meets-with-it-everywhere-2/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## 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/) [Explore all 328 Paul Theroux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) ## More Candour quotes > [Every reader should remember the diffidence of Socrates, and repair by his candour the injuries of time: he should impute the seeming defects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/every-reader-should-remember-the-diffidence-of-socrates-and-repair-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-know-you-do-and-it-is-that-which-makes-the-wonder-with-your-good/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“That is what you love a friend for: the ability to change your angle of vision, bring back your best self when you feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/that-is-what-you-love-a-friend-for-the-ability-to-change-your-angle/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [We also believe candour benefits us as managers. The CEO who misleads often in public eventually misleads himself in private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/we-also-believe-candour-benefits-us-as-managers-the-ceo-who-misleads/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [Such pretensions to nicety in experiments of this nature, are truly laughable! They will be telling us some day of the WEIGHT of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sutton-harrington/such-pretensions-to-nicety-in-experiments-of-this-nature-are-truly/) Robert Sutton Harrington > [We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting government spending.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-callaghan/we-used-to-think-that-you-could-spend-your-way-out-of-a-recession-and/) [James Callaghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-callaghan/) > [Truth is, I'll never know all there is to know about you just as you will never know all there is to know about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/truth-is-i-ll-never-know-all-there-is-to-know-about-you-just-as-you/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [A true party-man hates and despises candour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/a-true-party-man-hates-and-despises-candour/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [I'm not dripping with charisma like many of my friends are. But I do have candour, which is close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-brennan/i-m-not-dripping-with-charisma-like-many-of-my-friends-are-but-i-do/) [Neal Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-brennan/) > [Candour is the brightest gem of criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-d-israeli/candour-is-the-brightest-gem-of-criticism/) [Isaac D'Israeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-d-israeli/) > [“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough-one-meets-with-it-everywhere/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Affectation of candour is common enough—one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of everybody's character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/affectation-of-candour-is-common-enough-one-meets-with-it-everywhere-2/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [There is a popular superstition that "realism" asserts itself in the cataloguing of a great number of material objects, in explaining mechanical processes, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/there-is-a-popular-superstition-that-realism-asserts-itself-in-the/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“I have promised to dine at White's, but it is only with an old friend, so I can send him a wire to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-have-promised-to-dine-at-white-s-but-it-is-only-with-an-old-friend/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Browse all 15 Candour quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/candour/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining car, and the certain knowledge that neither of us would see each other again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Theroux" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had-with-people-on-trains-derived/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Candour" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had-with-people-on-trains-derived/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/paul-theroux-913_candour_the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had_945559.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared…” — Paul Theroux", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Theroux", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The conversation, like many others I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had-with-people-on-trains-derived/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/the-conversation-like-many-others-i-had-with-people-on-trains-derived/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```