I was no longer troubled when he pulled out a machete in a crowded bar, tried to pick up schoolgirls, or threatened to scalp us, then rip off our heads and scoop out our brains.

Any man who has ever led an army, an expedition, or a group of Boy Scouts has sadism in his bones.

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.

The forest did not tolerate frailty of body or mind. Show your weakness, and it would consume you without hesitation.

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.

Previous journeys in search of treasure have taught me that a zigzag strategy is the best way to get ahead.

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.

The rain of Madre de Dios is similar to that of the Amazon, but there is a petrifying aspect to it, as if it seeks to wound rather than to nurture.

On a hard jungle journey nothing is so important as having a team you can trust.

On a harsh expedition, there's no space for anyone who does not intend to finish.

Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.

When we stop looking for someone to complete us... We find completion in ourselves.

The only justice is to follow the sincere intuition of the soul, angry or gentle. Anger is just, and pity is just, but judgement is never just.

You can only control your own actions. Not other people’s reactions.

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

The things that are most worthwhile in life are really those within the reach of almost every normal human being who cares to seek them out.

It's our nature to be free, and until we're stuck in a stressful belief system, we're pretty happy.

The minute you feel you have given a faultless performance is the time to get out.

Economic tough times are great times to be investing in the future.

The taste for quotations (and for the juxtaposition of incongruous quotations) is a Surrealist taste.

My mother was right when she said that turning pro would take away my youth.