Paul Theroux Quotes

With nonfiction, I go in trying to be really honest about what my preconceptions are.

You can't talk about truth unless you talk about yourself.

The hardest thing to remember is that what we each really want is the truth of our lives, good or bad. Not rocking the boat is an illusion that can only be maintained by the unspoken agreement not to feel and in the long run it never really works. Let go of saving the boat and save the passengers instead.

I'm interested in trying to explore what I think is the truth at a given time in my life, and part of the process of being honest is - in my mind - talking about the idea that you're watching a movie.

Whatever you think, be sure it is what you think; whatever you want, be sure that is what you want; whatever you feel, be sure that is what you feel.

Anything I've ever said, I certainly was feeling at the time.

One is certain of nothing but the truth of one's own emotions.

Never be ashamed of what or how you feel... just be honest.

I can't pretend that I'm happy or pretend to get emotional when I'm not.

I find it hard to act other than the way I feel.

To be honest to oneself, and that is very hard to do.

Sometimes, I have to really monitor myself, but the only monitoring job I really do on myself on stage is, Is this truthful? Is this truthful? Is this truthful? Ideally, I send it in a flow of truth.

If your not honest with yourself, how the hell are you gonna be honest with me.

If we judge our lives by what we know or by what we say, we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that we are something we are not; it is wiser to evaluate ourselves by the amount of truth we actually live. This is very humbling.

The individual point of view is the only point of view from which one is able to look at the world in its truth.

Just speak your truth, it's an important cornerstone of how your life ends up sort of unfolding in front of you. Even if it's painful, if it's honest, it's going to bring you to the place you deserve to be.

Everybody is original, if he tells the truth, if he speaks from himself. But it must be from his *true* self and not from the self he thinks he *should* be.

In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly how it happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story. Then you won't get mixed up. It was the best advice Francie every got.

In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am.

For two extraordinary years I have been working on it - learning to write - but mostly learning how to tell the truth. At first it is quite impossible. You make yourself better than anybody, then worse than anybody, and when you finally come to see you are "like" everybody - that is the bitterest blow of all to the ego. But in the end it is only the truth, no matter how ugly or shameful, that is right, that fits together, that makes real people, and strangely enough - beauty.

My work is to be honest. My work is to try to think clearly, then have the courage to make sure that what I say is the truth.

To be honest, one must be inconsistent.

As you get older your willingness to tell more of the truth is awakened and you don't have to think about it or imagine it because now you know this to be true.

You can act truthfully or you can lie. You can reveal things about yourself or you can hide. Therefore, the audience recognizes something about themselves or they don't -- You hope they don't leave the theatre thinking that was nice...now where's the cab?'

You're always learning about yourself, if you're honest with yourself. It's very tough to be honest with yourself. We all are dishonest with ourselves, a lot of the time. We don't want to deal with something, so we compartmentalize it.