One of the cardinal principles of Buddhism, the principle of neglect.

The conversation, like many others I had with people on trains, derived an easy candour from the shared journey, the comfort of the dining car, and the certain knowledge that neither of us would see each other again.

...a society without jaywalkers might indicate a society without artists.

You may not know it but I'm no good at coping with all the attention in the luxury hotels I sometimes find myself in.

For years I felt that being respectable meant maintaining a sinister complacency, and the disreputable freedom I sought helped make me a writer.

Pain does not create a long-lasting memory, but the memory of luxury exerts itself for ever.

Mark Twain was a great traveler and he wrote three or four great travel books. I wouldn't say that I'm a travel novelist but rather a novelist who travels - and who uses travel as a background for finding stories of places.