“There are two ways to find a lost city. The first is to rely on luck alone, the second is to control all the information.”

“Where does one go in a tremendous city like Calcutta to find insider information? I recalled India's golden rule: do the opposite of what would be normal anywhere else.”

“Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.”

“The quest for a lost city erodes your body, damaging you beyond all reason. But it is your mind that bears the heaviest toll. Listen to the doubters, the worriers and the weak, and the vaguest hope of success evaporates.”

“Only a man who has his health, a full stomach and wears clean clothes would ever entertain the notion of tracking down the greatest lost city on Earth.”

“Bombay is a city where gossip is treated as a commodity.”

“Calcutta's the only city I know where you are actively encouraged to stop strangers at random for a quick chat.”