Words are powerful. Stories, if they're written well, can transport us to faraway or even imaginary places. They can also inspire us to go out ourselves and explore the beauty of the world around us. Many great travel quotes are from literary writers who were travelers themselves, captivated by the unique charm and stunning landscapes of foreign places and the people who live there.
My favourite travel quotes come from a variety of different literary figures. Some are from the creative minds of fiction writers who, rather than writing about their own travels, instead choose to dream up a beautiful reality that can transport readers to a place that has no limits. Others are from memoirs and semi-biographical accounts of their own adventurous lives.
Here are some inspiring words from those great literary authors that I hope will encourage you to explore the world!
ON WANDERING
“We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us. Even while the earth sleeps we travel.”
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
The best-selling poet of the last century, Kahlil Gibran was an artist and poet who spent much of his life traveling between America and his birthplace, Lebanon. The Prophet, a poetic novel published in 1923 featuring Gibran's own drawings, is one of his most famous works and was even made into an animated film in 2014.
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ON THE JOURNEY
“Farther off there were others: peaks, pinnacles, black cindercones on the glacier. Smoke panted from fiery mouths that opened out of the ice. Estraven stood there in harness beside me looking at that magnificent and unspeakable desolation. ‘I’m glad I have lived to see this,’ he said. I felt as he did. It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K Le Guin was an American science-fiction writer, famous for her imaginitive stories of other planets. This quote, often mistakenly attributed to Ernest Hemingway, is from her 1987 novel The Left Hand of Darkness - a must-read for all science fiction fans.
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ON MEMORIES
“I look at my yesterdays for months past, and find them as good a lot of yesterdays as anybody might want. I sit there in the firelight and see them all. The hours that made them were good, and so were the moments that made the hours. I have had responsibilities and work, dangers and pleasure, good friends, and a world without walls to live in.”
Beryl Markham, West With The Night
Beryl Markham was a British-born pilot who spent most of her life living in Kenya. Her beautifully-written memoir, West With the Night, was published in 1942, but didn't gain popularity until 40 years later, when a letter by Ernest Hemingway was discovered, praising the book. Her writing style is similar to that of Out of Africa author Karen Blixen, who was a friend of Markham's.
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ON WHY WE TRAVEL
" 'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.' "
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
This is a quote from Ray Bradbury's famous dystopian tale Fahrenheit 451. Though the story isn't about travel, it does offer some powerful messages on the value of freedom and the importance of making the most of the time we have.
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ON ADVENTURES
“Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home.”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
This quote is from Henry David Thoreau's famous philosophical autobiography, Walden, which chronicles the writer's experiences living in a self-built cabin in the woods over a period of two years. There are many quotable passages from this book, but this is my favourite travel-related one.
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ON DISCOVERY
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.”
Roald Dahl, The Minpins
Welsh author Roald Dahl is most well-known for his quirky children's novels, though he also wrote some fairly twisted stories for adults, as well as autobiographical novels such as Going Solo, a memoir of his time in the Royal Air Force during WWII. This quote is from The Minpins, a children's novel published the year after his death.
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ON REMINISCING
"Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.”
Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London to Indian parents and immigrated to America at a young age. It's her own struggle to find a cultural identity that has been the main inspiration for the characters and themes of her stories. Her first book, Interpreter of Maladies, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories, which serve as a poetic glimpse into the lives of Indian-Americans as they navigate the challenges of balancing different cultures.
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ON BEAUTY
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson's Essays
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American poet and essayist who traveled to Europe in the 1830's, 1840's and 1870's. Though this quote relates well to travel, it's actually not a travel quote at all, but rather from an essay Emerson wrote on art. You can read the full essay for free, or purchase a collection of his works on paperback.
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ON WANDERLUST
“Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.”
Isabelle Eberhardt, The Nomad: The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt
Isabelle Eberhardt was a portrait of nonconformity. Her restless spirit took her from her home in Switzerland to her beloved North Africa, where she changed her name and disguised herself as an Arab man in order to live more freely. Those who wish to read her story can purchase a collection of her personal writings, published after her death at the young age of 27.
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ON NOMADIC LIVING
“Wealth I ask not, hope nor love, nor a friend to know me. All I ask, the heaven above, and the road below me.”
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Vagabond
This line, from a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, reflects the author's lifelong passion for exploring the world. His journeys through the years took him from Scotland to his final resting place on the South Pacific island of Samoa. The full text of The Vagabond can be read online for free, or you can purchase a wonderful collection of Stevenson's poems.
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