Michael Palin Quotes

Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future

John Hall, my geography teacher at school inspired me to a lifelong interest in geography and a curiosity about our world which has stayed with me through my life. Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. For me geography is a great adventure with a purpose.

Geography prepares for the world of work - geographers, with their skills of analysis are highly employable!

Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life

First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more-no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.

One of the most important days of my life was when I learned to ride a bicycle.

I always wanted to be an explorer, but - it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person.

The human race should just slow down and think about what it is doing.

I am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art, and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.

I am restless. I don't mind leaving this comfortable, static life. I could live a year on my own in a remote village.

I know that we shall meet problems along the way, but I'd far rather see for myself what's going on in the world outside, than rely on newspapers, television, politicians and religious leaders to tell me what I should be thinking.

All I ask of food is that it doesn't harm me.

Contrary to what the politicians and religious leaders would like us to believe, the world won't be made safer by creating barriers between people.

The trouble with travelling back later on is that you can never repeat the same experience.

I want people to know there is more to Somalia than looting and piracy.

I am very cautious of people who are absolutely right, especially when they are vehemently so.

There are many ways of seeing the world. You can hang upside down from a meteor, volunteer to be the fourth stage of a three-stage rocket, or simply get in a balloon and keep going. But if it's sheer, unadulterated discomfort you're looking for, just stay on land.

Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote.

I enjoy writing, I enjoy my house, my family and, more than anything I enjoy the feeling of seeing each day used to the full to actually produce something. The end.

Armageddon is not around the corner. This is only what the people of violence want us to believe. The complexity and diversity of the world is the hope for the future.

I think some of the best modern writing comes now from travellers.

From my travels around the world I have seen how much damage and pollution is done by the careless disposal of waste. It is also evident that we in the West produce far more and throw away far more than the developing world, almost without thinking

Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

I got my first lifetime achievement award years ago, and I was very excited, but then I got a sense of: Well, can one get a second lifetime award?

Now, what sort of person would write a scene where a young man stumbles upon a castle full only of beautiful young women? Answer: ME!

The Buddhist version of poverty is a situation where you have nothing to contribute.

As I work in the afternoon on committing to paper some of my morning's thoughts, I find myself just about to close on the knotty question of whether or not I believe in God. In fact I am about to type, 'I do not believe in God', when the sky goes black as ink, there is a thunderclap and a huge crash of thunder and a downpour of epic proportions. I never do complete the sentence.

Despite having seen a fair amount of the world, I still love travelling - I just have an insatiable curiosity and like looking out of a window.

I would love to go to Iran. The island of Madagascar, everyone says is pretty exotic, or the wonderful Namibian desert.

I've been lucky to have made a number of travel programmes with the BBC, the object being to see places off the beaten track. As a result, I've often had a guide who's been able to show me things that you wouldn't see with a tour group.

People are still crazy about Python after twenty-five years, which I find hard to believe.

The need to eat, sleep and dry out plays havoc with your sense of wonder.

I will die, but not retire.

My parents have been married forty-two years. I wonder how many of those were happy.

I wanted to be an explorer, but gradually found the world had been explored and that there was nowhere left, really. Once they climbed Everest in 1953, when I was 10 years old, I thought, 'Well, that's pretty much it now.' But the idea of travelling and exploring and adventure was very strong.

I cut down trees, I skip and jump, I like to press wild flowers. I put on women's clothing and hang around in bars.

I mistrust total competence. I've always felt life is a series of small disasters we try to get through.

You can't get a suit of armour and a rubber chicken just like that. You have to plan ahead.

My marriage has worked because I am not around much.

Somewhere, a long way away, people are doing sensible things like mowing lawns and digging gardens.

Night falls over Machu Picchu to the sound of Abba's 'Dancing Queen'.

People look for patterns in everything. It's what keeps us sane, I suppose. I struggle to see any patterns in my life. I think I can understand depression a bit because of my sister. My own feelings of ... I'm aware that, if you feel down, it can be strangely unrelated to circumstances around you. That's just the way life is.

When in doubt, resort to animation.

People say the most stupid things on the spur of the moment that they then have to retract.

'Nice' means nothing. Is it someone who doesn't swear and shout? I swear and shout. 'Nice' sounds ineffectual.

You don't ask people about the immigration policies of the U.K. or their country's agricultural policy. Instead, you talk to them about the meal they're eating or their family, and from that you get the sense of another human being, someone we can all relate to.

If atheists are deaf to the word of God, then theists are blind to the ways of man.

In the absence of fear there is little faith.

It's not an easy option. The essence of travel is letting go of habit and prejudice and relishing the unfamiliar. Food you've never eaten before, a language you've never spoken before, religion that mystifies, customs that confuse, politics that perplex, all question everyday assumptions about how you live your life.

I don't see why it should be remarkable that you can acquire a reputation for fairness and decency. Those are qualities shared by so many people. And the great majority of people I meet are decent people, just trying to navigate their way through the world without causing too much trouble.