Quotes from Tahir Shah

Most journeys have a clear beginning, but on some the ending is less well-defined. The question is, at what point do you bite your lip and head for home?

There is nothing like a train journey for reflection.

There comes a stage at which a man would rather die cleanly by a bullet than by the unknown terror of the phantom in the forest.

During the days I felt myself slipping into a kind of madness. Solitary confinement has an astonishing effect on the mind. The trip was to stay calm and keep myself occupied. I spent hours working out how to break free. But trying to escape would have been instant suicide.

Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.

Previous journeys had taught me the danger of taking too much stuff.

We had the kind of conversations that only great friends can ever share. They were touched with magic.

My father never told us how the stories worked. He didn't reveal the layers, the nuggets of information, the fragments of truth and fantasy. He didn't need to -- because, given the right conditions, the stories activated, sowing themselves.

Nothing was really so important to my father as the achievement of selflessness. He rarely mentioned it directly, but tried to guide us to it in a roundabout way.

A journey of observation must leave as much as possible to chance. Random movement is the best plan for maximum observation

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; a little growling goes a long way.

Time spent in India has a extraordinary effect on one. It acts as a barrier that makes the rest of the world seem unreal.

Calcutta's the only city I know where you are actively encouraged to stop strangers at random for a quick chat.