Ours was not going to be a clone of the usual expeditions, oozing with sleekness. It was clear from the start that oddity was our advantage.

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.

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.

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.

The tradition of putting candles on Christmas trees actually began in Germany. The person who came up with the idea is thought to have been Martin Luther, father of the Reformation.

After all, film is so porous, and to my mind, so oddly occult, that I think that film itself absorbs odd energies like a living skin.

I was at the front for thirteen months, and by the end of that time the sharpest perceptions had become dulled, the greatest words mean.

The cocktail party has a simple function in modern society. Its basic purpose is to pay off social debts.

There are moderates in Syria who we should be supporting.

But grant the wrath of Heaven be great, 'tis slow. [Lat., Ut sit magna tamen certe lenta ira deorum est.]

I have no clue. I have ovaries; therefore, I repel all things mechanical.

Mistakes are great, the more I make the smarter I get.

I look at everything in an artistic way.

NOTHING happens by coincidence.