“The very fact that a Frenchman was prepared, after tow minutes of conversation, to be so friendly towards anyone, especially one who had come from England, made me restless.”

“Inscribed on it was a verse from the Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, the eleventh-century Persian mystic. Reading the words aloud I prepared for a most amazing journey:The sages who have compassed sea and land,Their secret to search out and understand,My mind misgives me if they ever solveThe scheme on which the universe is planned.”

“On a harsh expedition, there's no space for anyone who does not intend to finish.”

“I had learned years ago never to give original documents to anyone if I could help it.”

“Spend sixteen weeks in the jungle and you being to question your own sanity, especially when you are the one goading everyone else ahead.”

“As anyone who's ever taken an Ethiopian bus knows, there is an unwritten rule that the windows must remain firmly closed.”

“The ants are bad" The Bear"the ants?"Tahir"Do not be fooled. They look very small, so harm you don't think of then at all. Then years. Then one day you wake up, and your home has fallen down." Osman.”