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The Occident has never found it easy to grasp the strange netherworld of spirits that followers of Islam universally believe exist in a realm overlaid our own.

Tahir Shah

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Tahir Shah
Age: 58
Born: 1966
Born: November 16
Author
Comedian
Explorer
Journalist
Novelist
Writer
London
England
Spirit
Realm
Believe
Followers
Never
Realms
Islam
Netherworld
Exist
Overlaid
Strange
Universally
Easy
Spirits
Found
Grasp

More quotes by Tahir Shah

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I believe that Marrakech ought to be earned as a destination. The journey is the preparation for the experience. Reaching it too fast derides it, makes it a little less easy to understand.
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For my father there was no sharper way to understand a country than by listening to its stories.
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There can be few situations more fearful than breaking down in darkness on the highway leading to Casablanca. I have rarely felt quite so vulnerable or alone.
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Foras Road has a sordid reputation (…) Old crones sat in doorways, while their daughters were pushed out to earn money. It is intriguing that a society which is very covert with sexuality should be so straightforward about prostitution.
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On a harsh expedition, there's no space for anyone who does not intend to finish.
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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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In India everything has a use and a value.
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The backstreet cafe in Casablanca was for me a place of mystery, a place with a soul, a place with danger. There was a sense that the safety nets had been cut away, that each citizen walked upon the high wire of this, the real world. I longed not merely to travel through it, but to live in such a city.
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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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I felt sure we could gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in the mindset of the Incas.
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There's nothing like a pack of mules to give one a sense of entourage.
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Previous journeys had taught me the danger of taking too much stuff.
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Previous journeys in search of treasure have taught me that a zigzag strategy is the best way to get ahead.
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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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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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A man who embarks on a journey must know when to end it.
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I was becoming addicted to Bombay. There was squalor and poverty, but I had begun to realise my good fortune and would never again forget it.
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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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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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It is almost impossible to overemphasize the importance with which ancestry is held in the Middle East and North Africa.
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