ELLA MAILLART

Only when one is able to grasp wideness can one possess it.

That idea of escapism... these words could sum up my life.

Others are keen to see if natives other than us live better than we do, without heat in pipes, ice in boxes, sunshine in bulbs, music on disks, or images gliding over a pale screen.

Certain travellers give the impression that they keep moving because only then do they feel fully alive.

One travels to escape from it all, but that is the great illusion: It cannot be done, since one travels with one's mind.

The benefits of the accomplished journey cannot be weighed in terms of perfect moments, but in terms of how this journey affects and changes our character.

We must develop a deeper interest and greater understanding of the people we meet here or abroad. Like us, they are passengers on board that mysterious ship called life.

The true traveller is the one urged to move about for physical, aesthetic, intellectual as well as spiritual reasons.

You can feel as brave as Columbus starting for the unknown the first time you enter a Chinese lane full of boys laughing at you, or when you risk climbing down in a Tibetan pub for a meal of rotten meat.

Not only does travel give us a new system of reckoning, it also brings to the fore unknown aspects of our own self. Our consciousness being broadened and enriched, we shall judge ourselves more correctly.

Those who appreciate the ways of simple tribes, where every activity is direct and immediately understandable, are able to live among them.

The state of minds vary according to the angle under which one examines them.

I am sure that instinctively we wish to be everything, to possess it - why cut the rose or marry the man, otherwise?

One travels to run away from routine, that dreadful routine that kills all imagination and all our capacity for enthusiasm.

You do not travel if you are afraid of the unknown, you travel for the unknown, that reveals you with yourself.

The wideness of the horizon has to be inside us, cannot be anywhere but inside us, otherwise what we speak about is geographic distances.

I had to live in the desert before I could understand the full value of grass in a green ditch.

When I crossed Asia with my friend Peter Fleming, we spoke to no one but each other during many months, and we covered exactly the same ground. Nevertheless my journey differed completely from his.

The sooner we learn to be jointly responsible, the easier the sailing will be.

Humanity is made up of an infinity of different individuals. Each of us travels for motives exclusively his own.

We want to feel that this earth is all ours, like our parents' house when we were children.

Every time I took a long leave from home, I felt as if I were going to conquer the world. Or rather, take possession of what is my birthright, my inheritance.

Words are impotent to describe certain emotions.

When the heart speaks, its language is the same under all latitudes.

The usual channels of university studies or secretarial work did not appeal to me. I cherished difficult dreams through confidence in myself.