Travels with Herodotus Quotes

“A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out, nor ends when we have reached our door step once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel, and the disease is essentially incurable.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“There aren't many such enthusiasts born. The average person is not especially curious about the world. He is alive, and being somehow obliged to deal with this condition, feels the less effort it requires, the better. Whereas learning about the world is labor, and a great all-consuming one at that. Most people develop quite antithetical talents, in fact - to look without seeing, to listen without hearing, mainly to preserve onself within oneself.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“We do not really know what draws a human being out into the world. Is it curiosity? A hunger for experience? An addiction to wonderment? The man who ceases to be astonished is hollow, possessed of an extinguished heart. If he believes that everything has already happened, that he has seen it all, then something most precious has died within him—the delight in life.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Such people, while useful, even agreeable, to others, are, if truth be told, frequently unhappy–lonely in fact. Yes, they seek out others, and it may even seem to them that in a certain country or city they have managed to find true kinship and fellowship, having come to know and learn about a people; but they wake up one day and suddenly feel that nothing actually binds them to these people, that they can leave here at once. They realize that another country, some other people, have now beguiled them, and that yesterday’s most riveting event now pales and loses all meaning and significance. For all intents and purposes, they do not grow attached to anything, do not put down deep roots. Their empathy is sincere, but superficial. If asked which of the countries they have visited they like best, they are embarrassed–they do not know how to answer. Which one? In a certain sense–all of them. There is something compelling about each. To which country would they like to return once more? Again, embarrassment–they had never asked themselves such a question. The one certainty is that they would like to be back on the road, going somewhere. To be on their way again–that is the dream.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Man knows, and in the course of years he comes to know it increasingly well, feeling it ever more acutely, that memory is weak and fleeting, and if he doesn't write down what he has learned and experienced, that which he carries within him will perish when he does. This is when it seems everyone wants to write a book. Singers and football players, politicians and millionaires. And if they themselves do not know how, or else lack the time, they commission someone else to do it for them...engendering this reality is the impression of writing as a simple pursuit, though those who subscribe to that view might do well to ponder Thomas Mann's observation that, 'a writer is a man for whom writing is more difficult than it is for others”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“I was seized at once with a profound fascination, a burning thirst to learn, to immerse myself totally, to melt away, to become as one with this foreign universe. To know it as if I had been born and raised there, begun life there. I wanted to learn the language, I wanted to read the books, I wanted to penetrate every nook and cranny.

It was a kind of malady, a dangerous weakness, because I also realized that these civilizations are so enormous, so rich, complex, and varied, that getting to know even a fragment of one of them, a mere scrap, would require devoting one's whole life to the enterprise. Cultures are edifices with countless rooms, corridors, balconies, and attics, all arranged, furthermore, into such twisting, turning labyrinths, that if you enter one of them, there is no exit, no retreat, no turning back. To become a Hindu scholar, a Sinologist, an Arabist, or a Hebraist is a lofty all-consuming pursuit, leaving no space or time for anything else.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“in reference to Persepolis and all palaces, cities and temples of the past: could these wonders have come into being without that suffering? without the overseer's whip, the slave's fear, the ruler's vanity? was not the monumentality of past epochs created by that which is negative and evil in man?”
― Ryszard Kapuscinski, Travels with Herodotus

“[…] I began to see Algiers as one of the most fascinating and dramatic places on earth. In the small space of this beautiful but congested city intersected two great conflicts of the contemporary world. The first was the one between Christianity and Islam (expressed here in the clash between colonizing France and colonized Algeria). The second, which acquired a sharpness of focus immediately after the independence and departure of the French, was a conflict at the very heart of Islam, between its open, dialectical — I would even say “Mediterranean” — current and its other, inward-looking one, born of a sense of uncertainty and confusion vis-à-vis the contemporary world, guided by fundamentalists who take advantage of modern technology and organizational principles yet at the same time deem the defense of faith and custom against modernity as the condition of their own existence, their sole identity.

[…] In Algiers one speaks simply of the existence of two varieties of Islam — one, which is called the Islam of the desert, and a second, which is defined as the Islam of the river (or of the sea). The first is the religion practiced by warlike nomadic tribes struggling to survive in one of the world's most hostile environments, the Sahara. The second Islam is the faith of merchants, itinerant peddlers, people of the road and of the bazaar, for whom openness, compromise, and exchange are not only beneficial to trade, but necessary to life itself.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Pojąłem, że każdy świat ma własną tajemnicę i że dostęp do niej jest tylko na drodze poznania języka. <...> Rozumiałem, że im więcej będę znał słów, tym bogatszy, pełniejszy i bardziej różnorodny świat otworzy się przede mną.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“The man who ceases to be astonished is hollow, possessed of an extinguished heart.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“This is natural: one must read Herodotus's book-and every great book-repeatedly; with each reading it will reveal another layer, previously overlooked themes, images, and meanings. For within every great book there are several others.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“We stand in darkness, surrounded by light”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“on war and conquest: in the realm of human affairs one also needs a pretext. it is important to give it the rank of a universal imperative or of a divine commandment. The range of choices is not great; either it is that we must defend ourselves, or that we have an obligation to help others, or that we are fulfilling heaven's will. the optimal pretext would link all three of the motives.”
― Ryszard Kapuscinski, Travels with Herodotus

“People who dislike budging from their homes or walking beyond their own backyards--and they are always and everywhere in the majority--treat Herodotus' sort, fundamentally unconnected to anyone or anything, as freaks, fanatics, lunatics even.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Kusiło mnie, żeby zobaczyć, co jest dalej, po drugiej stronie. Zastanawiałem się, co się przeżywa, przechodząc granicę. Co się czuje? Co myśli? Musi to być moment wielkiej emocji, poruszenia, napięcia. Po tamtej stronie - jak jest? Na pewno - inaczej. Ale co znaczy to - inaczej? Jaki ma wygląd? Do czego jest podobne? A może jest niepodobne do niczego, co znam, a tym samym niepojęte, niewyobrażalne.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Mille poolest kultuurid üksteisest erinevad? Esmajoones tavade poolest. Ütle mulle, kuidas sa riietud, kuidas käitud, missugusi kombeid jälgid, missuguseid jumalaid kummardad, ja ma ütlen sulle, kes sa oled. Inimene mitte ainult ei loo kultuuri ega ela selles, inimene kannab kultuuri endas, inimene ongi kultuur.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“That is how the world’s energy is wasted. In complete irrationality! Complete futility! For the Great Wall—and it is gigantic, a wall-fortress, stretching for thousands of kilometers through uninhabited mountains and wilderness, an object of pride and, as I have mentioned, one of the wonders of the world—is also proof of a kind of human weakness, of an aberration, of a horrifying mistake; it is evidence of a historical inability of people in this part of the planet to communicate, to confer and jointly determine how best to deploy enormous reserves of human energy and intellect.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“I understood that every distinct geographic universe has its own mystery and that one can decipher it only by learning the local language. Without it, this universe will remain impenetrable and unknowable, even if one were to spend entire years in it. I noticed, too, the relationship between naming and being, because I realized upon my return to the hotel that in town I had seen only that which I was able to name: for example, I remembered the acacia tree, but not the tree standing next to it, whose name I did not know. I understood, in short, that the more words I knew, the richer, fuller, and more variegated would be the world that opened before me, and which I could capture.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Sí, el mundo enseña humildad. Pues regresé de aquel viaje con el sentimiento de vergüenza por mi falta de conocimientos, por la insuficiencia de mis lecturas, por mi ignorancia. Aprendí que una cultura distinta no nos desvelaría sus secretos tan sólo porque así se lo ordenásemos y que antes de encontrarnos con ella era necesario pasar por una larga y sólida preparación".”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Chúng ta thực sự không biết điều gì đã lôi cuốn con người vào với thế giới. Trí tò mò? Lòng khát khao trải nghiệm? Nhu cầu luôn muốn được ngạc nhiên? Con người ngừng ngạc nhiên là người trống rỗng, trái tim đã lụi tàn, Người cho rằng mọi thứ đã xảy ra và không gì có thể làm anh ta kinh ngạc được nữa, trong anh ta điều đẹp đẽ nhất đã chết - lòng say mê cuộc sống.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“At the same time, Herodotus sets himself a most ambitious task: to record the history of the world. No one before him ever attempted this. He is the first to have hit upon the idea. Constantly gathering material for his work and interrogating witnesses, bards, and priests, he finds that each of them remembers something different—different and differently. Moreover, many centuries before us, he discovers an important yet treacherous and complicating trait of human memory: people remember what they want to remember, not what actually happened. Everyone colors events after his fashion, brews up his own mélange of reminiscences. Therefore getting through to the past itself, the past as it really was, is impossible. What are available to us are only its various versions, more or less credible, one or another of them suiting us better at any given time. The past does not exist. There are only infinite renderings of it.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Ma kartsin, et võin langeda provintsuluse lõksu. Tavaliselt seostub mõiste "provintslus" ruumiga. Provintslik on inimene, kelle mõtlemine on piiratud teatava marginaalse ruumiga, millele ta omistab liialdatud, universaalse tähtsuse. T. S. Eliot aga hoiatab teise, mitte ruumilise, vaid ajalise provintsluse eest. "Meie ajastul" kirjutab ta, "mil inimesed näivad rohkem kui kunagi pidavat teadmist taruseks ja informatsiooni teadmiseks, ning püüavad eluprobleeme lahendada insenerlikult, on takimas uus provintslus, mis võibolla vääriks küll uut nime. See ei ole ruumiline, vaid ajalooline provintslus: vaade, et ajalugu pole muud kui oma otstarbe ära teeninud ja siis kõrvale heidetud inimleiutiste kroonika, vaade, et maailm on ainult elavate päralt ja et surnutel ei ole siin vähimatki osa. Tolle provintsluse oht on, et me kõik, kõik maakera rahvad, võime olla ühtekokku provintslikud; ja ned, kes ei taha provintslikud olla, võivad hakaa ainult eremiitides."
Seega on olemas ruumilised provintslased ja ajalised provintslased. Ruumilistele provintslastele näib iga gloobus, iga maailmakaart, kui sügavale ad on provintslusse on eksinud, kui pimestatud sellest; samuti näitab iga ajalugu, sealhulgas iga lehekülg Herodotusest ajalistele provintslastele, et alati on eksisteerinud olevik, et ajalugu on vaid oleviku katkematu kulg ja kõige kaugemgi möödani oli toona elatud iimestele nende kõige südamelähedasem tänapäev.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Kas me kunagi mõtleme sellele, et maailma rikus on mäletamatutest aegadest olnud prjade loodud? Alates Mesopotaamia niisutussüsteemidest, Hiina müürist, Egiptuse püramiididest, Ateena akropolist kuni Kuuba suhkrurooistandusteni, Louisiana ja Arkansase puuvillaistandusteni, kuni Kolõma söekaevadnusteni ja saksa automagistraalideni välja. Aga sõjad? Sõdu on igivanast ajast peetud selleks, et orje saada”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“see on kõige hirmsam kannatus inimlikes asjades, paljut mõista ja mitte mingit võimu omada”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Need on ainukesed hetked, kui ma olen tundnud tõeist üksindust: seistes ihuüksi silmitsi karistamatu vägivallaga. Maailm tühjeneb, vaikib, sureb välja ning kaob.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Rahu ajal matavad lapsed isasid, kuid sõja ajal isad lapsi.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Kui maailma valitses mõistus, kas siis ajalugu üldse olekski?”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Pealegi tabab karistus täitmatu ahnuse eest inimest alati siis - ja just seles seisneb karistuse piinarikas, hävituslik jõud - , kui tal on tunne, et ihaldatud eesmärgini on jäänud vaid samm.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“Y Lícides, sencillamente, ha olvidado que hay una guerra en curso, y cuando hay guerra todas las libertades democráticas, la de expresión entre ellas, quedan suspendidas. Pues la guerra se rige por sus propias leyes, muy diferentes, reduciendo todo el código de principios a una sola regla, fundamental y única: ¡vencer a cualquier precio!”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus

“So dispatched, Aristagoras traveled to Athens—the most powerful city in Greece. Here he changed tactics: instead of speaking with the ruler, he addressed the crowd (in accordance with another of Herodotus’s rules, that it seems to be easier to fool a crowd than a single person) and appealed directly to the Athenians to help the Ionians.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus