--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Searching for a lost city is a…" description: "\"Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.\" — Tahir Shah" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png" --- # Searching for a lost city is a particularly European… ![“Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.” quote by Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png) > “Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.” [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. European fascination with lost cities reflects a cultural obsession with mystery and discovery. **In simple terms:** Europeans love searching for hidden cities. Key Takeaway Channel curiosity product. Themes exploration culture obsession history Mood reflective curious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel writing - museum curation - academic research - adventure tourism Key Concepts archaeology romanticism Questions to Reflect On - Why are lost cities alluring? - How does this obsession affect local cultures? A Different Perspective Obsession can romanticize exploitation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) ## Related quotes > [“There are two ways to find a lost city. The first is to rely on luck alone, the second is to control all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/there-are-two-ways-to-find-a-lost-city-the-first-is-to-rely-on-luck/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Only a man who has his health, a full stomach and wears clean clothes would ever entertain the notion of tracking down the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/only-a-man-who-has-his-health-a-full-stomach-and-wears-clean-clothes/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“The quest for a lost city erodes your body, damaging you beyond all reason. But it is your mind that bears the heaviest toll.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-quest-for-a-lost-city-erodes-your-body-damaging-you-beyond-all/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [Wasting away again in Margaritaville, searching for my lost shaker of salt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-buffett/wasting-away-again-in-margaritaville-searching-for-my-lost-shaker-of/) [Jimmy Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-buffett/) > [Abode where lost bodies roam each searching for its lost one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/abode-where-lost-bodies-roam-each-searching-for-its-lost-one/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Instead of searching for what you do not have, find out what it is that you have never lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/instead-of-searching-for-what-you-do-not-have-find-out-what-it-is/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“... and I could imagine myself searching for lost time under the tree ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/and-i-could-imagine-myself-searching-for-lost-time-under-the-tree/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“The good news is, no one ever found anything truly amazing without searching. It is the lost who wander, and only the wanderers discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-salma-farook/the-good-news-is-no-one-ever-found-anything-truly-amazing-without/) Dr Salma Farook > [“It is by not always thinking of yourself, if you can manage it, that you might somehow be happy. Until you can make room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/it-is-by-not-always-thinking-of-yourself-if-you-can-manage-it-that/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [What has been attained may again be lost. Only when you realise the true peace, the peace you have never lost, that peace will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/what-has-been-attained-may-again-be-lost-only-when-you-realise-the/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew, a city explored from the neutral heart outward, until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/it-was-a-good-place-for-getting-lost-in-a-city-no-one-ever-knew-a/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [But in the end, fighting for a love that was already gone felt like trying to live in the ruins of a lost city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/but-in-the-end-fighting-for-a-love-that-was-already-gone-felt-like/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [“ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Grann is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the bestselling author of The Lost City of Z, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/about-the-author-david-grann-is-a-staff-writer-at-the-new-yorker-and/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [“I didn't think I had anything to give you, that I'd lost you to this city. But I have me, Rachel, I can give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faleena-hopkins/i-didn-t-think-i-had-anything-to-give-you-that-i-d-lost-you-to-this/) [Faleena Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faleena-hopkins/) > [“Some rooftop, water-tank looming, street-racket strangely quelled and other known and unknown there, long sweet summer evening on the tarred roof: leaned back your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/some-rooftop-water-tank-looming-street-racket-strangely-quelled-and/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## 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 Cities quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All Germany was in turmoil. Revolutionaries seized power in the cities of Munich, Hanover and Cologne. One regional German government after another was toppled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cross-giblin/all-germany-was-in-turmoil-revolutionaries-seized-power-in-the-cities/) James Cross Giblin > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [I know of not one Republican candidate that would not appear publicly with Mitt Romney and I know many Democrats that don't even want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sessions/i-know-of-not-one-republican-candidate-that-would-not-appear-publicly/) [Pete Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sessions/) > [ 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/) > [We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in neglecting them we neglect the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-will-neglect-our-cities-to-our-peril-for-in-neglecting-them-we/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I didn't know the city at all, but I was so happy to be in New York I cried. I was so excited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-gerwig/i-didn-t-know-the-city-at-all-but-i-was-so-happy-to-be-in-new-york-i/) [Greta Gerwig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-gerwig/) > [Outside of Paris, there is no hope for the cultured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/outside-of-paris-there-is-no-hope-for-the-cultured/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Vienna is a handsome, lively city, and pleases me exceedingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/vienna-is-a-handsome-lively-city-and-pleases-me-exceedingly/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [“We have grace of strength to work, to clear our cities of any dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-have-grace-of-strength-to-work-to-clear-our-cities-of-any-dirt/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,153 Cities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tahir Shah" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particularly-european-obsession/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particularly-european-obsession/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/tahir-shah-3083_cities_searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particula_756382.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.” — 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": "Searching for a lost city is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particularly-european-obsession/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/searching-for-a-lost-city-is-a-particularly-european-obsession/#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 } } ] } ```