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.

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 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.

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.

The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves.

When you're writing, you're creating something out of nothing ... A successful piece of writing is like doing a successful piece of magic.", 6 March 2012]

Dude, I throw a stick. Come on. I get paid a pretty good salary to throw a stick.

In my earlier paintings, I wanted the space between the picture plane and the spectator to be active.

When doctors describe pain as experiencing "discomfort," it's like saying Hiroshima experienced "urban renewal".

On certain projects, on big public projects, people definitely are interested in making them greener, but on smaller projects with tight budgets it can be harder.

He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.

Couples with children who do win a divorce, cause such social havoc that they should have to pay a special divorce tax.

Ideas come in pairs and they contradict one another; their opposition is the principal engine of reflection.