--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As I see the world, there's one element…" description: "\"“As I see the world, there's one element that's even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It's not that I feel above them in any way, but that t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png" --- # As I see the world, there's one element that's even more… ![“As I see the world, there's one element that's even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It's not that I feel above them in any way, but that the very places they patronize are destroyed by their affection.” quote by Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png) > ““As I see the world, there's one element that's even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It's not that I feel above them in any way, but that the very places they patronize are destroyed by their affection.”” [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tourists often cause more damage to cultural sites than missionaries because their affection leads to overuse and commercialization. **In simple terms:** Tourists can harm places they love. Key Takeaway Travel responsibly, limit impact. Themes tourism culture environment responsibility Mood reflective concerned Type cautionary observational When to use this quote - travel planning - heritage preservation - eco‑tourism - community engagement Key Concepts cultural erosion overcommercialization Questions to Reflect On - How can travelers balance curiosity with respect? - What policies protect vulnerable sites? A Different Perspective Tourism also brings economic benefits and cultural exchange. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Missionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/missionaries/) [Tourism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourism/) ## Related quotes > [Go to Mozambique! As long as you don't expect to find flawless infrastructure, just go. Because this is a country where people have not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/go-to-mozambique-as-long-as-you-don-t-expect-to-find-flawless/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [Prayer for many is like a foreign land. When we go there, we go as tourists. Like most tourists, we feel uncomfortable and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mcafee-brown/prayer-for-many-is-like-a-foreign-land-when-we-go-there-we-go-as/) [Robert McAfee Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mcafee-brown/) > [I'm hoping that "South Of Wilshire" will help people to realize that these are places that they should patronize, not avoid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-levin/i-m-hoping-that-south-of-wilshire-will-help-people-to-realize-that/) [Harvey Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-levin/) > [Tourists came around and looked into our tipis. That those were the homes we choose to live in didn't bother them at all. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-means/tourists-came-around-and-looked-into-our-tipis-that-those-were-the/) [Russell Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-means/) > [“In any case, a little danger is a small price to pay for ridding a place of tourists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/in-any-case-a-little-danger-is-a-small-price-to-pay-for-ridding-a/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [Missionaries never give up on their dream of peace, even when they experience difficulties and persecution, which makes their presence strongly felt today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/missionaries-never-give-up-on-their-dream-of-peace-even-when-they/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [I began filming 'God Loves Uganda' by first meeting some of the Ugandan and American missionaries who have helped create Uganda's evangelical movement. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-began-filming-god-loves-uganda-by-first-meeting-some-of-the-ugandan/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Children are arrows in a quiver, and they are to be trained as missionaries and shot at the Devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-elliot/children-are-arrows-in-a-quiver-and-they-are-to-be-trained-as/) [Jim Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-elliot/) > [I thank all missionaries, men and women who quietly work hard for the Lord and their brothers and sisters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-thank-all-missionaries-men-and-women-who-quietly-work-hard-for-the/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-saint/and-people-who-do-not-know-the-lord-ask-why-in-the-world-we-waste-our/) [Nate Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-saint/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught how to pray with our eyes closed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jomo-kenyatta/when-the-missionaries-arrived-the-africans-had-the-land-and-the/) [Jomo Kenyatta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jomo-kenyatta/) > [People have the idea of missionaries as going out with the Bible and hitting natives with it. It's not really what they were doing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-firth/people-have-the-idea-of-missionaries-as-going-out-with-the-bible-and/) [Colin Firth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-firth/) > [“And so Mr. Brown came to be respected even by the clan, because he trod softly on its faith.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/and-so-mr-brown-came-to-be-respected-even-by-the-clan-because-he-trod/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [Please dont say you dont miss him. Just to pity me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-yap/please-dont-say-you-dont-miss-him-just-to-pity-me/) [William Yap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-yap/) ## More by Tahir Shah > [“As the head of an expedition, you can't pussyfoot around being polite to everyone. You have to show your teeth once in a while;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/as-the-head-of-an-expedition-you-can-t-pussyfoot-around-being-polite/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“The last thing we wanted was for the Machiguenga to be sad again. Sadness appeared to bring out their violence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-last-thing-we-wanted-was-for-the-machiguenga-to-be-sad-again/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [If hot food is they key to maintaining an expedition's stamina, then low grade gut-rot alcohol is the key to sustaining its sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/if-hot-food-is-they-key-to-maintaining-an-expedition-s-stamina-then/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Normally I would have been the first to go in search of cannibal monks, particularly as I had heard of a similar tradition at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/normally-i-would-have-been-the-first-to-go-in-search-of-cannibal/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Inscribed on it was a verse from the Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, the eleventh-century Persian mystic. Reading the words aloud I prepared for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/inscribed-on-it-was-a-verse-from-the-quatrains-of-omar-khayyam-the/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Moroccan traffic isn't like normal traffic. It's armed combat, a war of wills, in which only the very bravest have a chance to survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/moroccan-traffic-isn-t-like-normal-traffic-it-s-armed-combat-a-war-of/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Prideep pointed to the flames of paraffin lamps as they came alive in the distance and cackled in awe at the experience. (…) I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/prideep-pointed-to-the-flames-of-paraffin-lamps-as-they-came-alive-in/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“The very fact that a Frenchman was prepared, after tow minutes of conversation, to be so friendly towards anyone, especially one who had come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-very-fact-that-a-frenchman-was-prepared-after-tow-minutes-of/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-taste-for-glory-can-make-ordinary-men-behave-in-extraordinary-ways/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“As anyone who's ever taken an Ethiopian bus knows, there is an unwritten rule that the windows must remain firmly closed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/as-anyone-who-s-ever-taken-an-ethiopian-bus-knows-there-is-an/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/in-some-warped-way-having-an-embalmed-body-with-us-made-perfect-sense/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Back at the guest house I tried to acclimatise. A travel-worn adventurer had once told me that leaning with one's head dangling over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/back-at-the-guest-house-i-tried-to-acclimatise-a-travel-worn/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [Any man who has ever led an army, an expedition, or a group of Boy Scouts has sadism in his bones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/any-man-who-has-ever-led-an-army-an-expedition-or-a-group-of-boy/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [In some peculiar way, indeed, the rules were now beginning to seem quite logical. It was then I knew that I had been in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/in-some-peculiar-way-indeed-the-rules-were-now-beginning-to-seem/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [The forest did not tolerate frailty of body or mind. Show your weakness, and it would consume you without hesitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-forest-did-not-tolerate-frailty-of-body-or-mind-show-your/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) [Explore all 140 Tahir Shah quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) Atiq Rahimi [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As I see the world, there's one element that's even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It's not that I feel above them in any way, but that the very places they patronize are destroyed by their affection.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tahir Shah" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-that-s-even-more-corrosive/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destruction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-that-s-even-more-corrosive/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/tahir-shah-3083_destruction_as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-t_501890.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As I see the world, there's one element that's even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It's not…” — Tahir Shah", "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": "Tahir Shah", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As I see the world, there's...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-that-s-even-more-corrosive/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/as-i-see-the-world-there-s-one-element-that-s-even-more-corrosive/#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 } } ] } ```