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For my father there was no sharper way to understand a country than by listening to its stories.

Tahir Shah

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Tahir Shah
Age: 58
Born: 1966
Born: November 16
Author
Comedian
Explorer
Journalist
Novelist
Writer
London
England
Father
Stories
Country
Way
Sharper
Listening
Understand

More quotes by Tahir Shah

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In India everything has a use and a value.
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For me, a journey to Damascus is an amazing hunt from beginning to end, a slice through layers of history in search of treasure.
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The inertia of a jungle village is a dangerous thing. Before you know it your whole life has slipped by and you are still waiting there.
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The pursuit of illusion is not about studying for prizes, or for study's sake. There's no right or wrong, no pass or fail.
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Where does one go in a tremendous city like Calcutta to find insider information? I recalled India's golden rule: do the opposite of what would be normal anywhere else.
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There's nothing like a pack of mules to give one a sense of entourage.
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In moments of great uncertainty on my travels, I have always felt that something is protecting me, that i will come to no harm.
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These days no one challenges us,' he said. 'And because there is no challenge, there is no reason to work hard. And with no reason to work hard, we have all become lazy.
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Stories are not like the real world they aren't held back by what we know is false or true. What's important is how a story makes you feel inside.
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My father used to say that stories are part of the most precious heritage of mankind.
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There is nothing quite as unpleasant as wearing a pair of briefs which have been trailed through a Calcutta courtyard. Nothing, that is, except having one's elbows and knees lacerated by unseen slivers of glass and discarded razor blades.
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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.
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On a hard jungle journey nothing is so important as having a team you can trust.
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Explorers like to pretend that they are a select breed of people with iron nerve and an ability to endure terrible hardship.
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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 pleasure.
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Move to a new country and you quickly see that visiting a place as a tourist, and actually moving there for good, are two very different things.
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The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.
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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?
Tahir Shah
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Respect was one thing. Survival was another. It was important that I kept my priorities in the right order.
Tahir Shah
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I felt sure we could gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in the mindset of the Incas.
Tahir Shah