Quotes by Ryszard Kapuściński

A journey does not begin when we set out, nor end when we return home. It begins much earlier and never really ends, because the film of it keeps running inside our memory.

on Travel

There is such a thing as travel fever, and it is essentially an incurable disease.

on Travel

In the person who believes that everything has already happened, what is most beautiful has died: the beauty of life.

on Travel

When a human being encounters an obstacle he cannot destroy, he begins to destroy himself.

on Life

A person cannot outlive his own shadow.

on Life

Flowers do not bloom for themselves, but always for someone else.

on Life

I like to think of every road as one without end, running all the way around the world. It comes from the fact that from my Pinsk you could reach all the oceans by boat.

on Travel

In his actions, a person has no choice. He carries his fate within himself, as if it were a genetic code — he must go where and do what destiny has ordained.

on Life

To be a journalist, you must first of all be a good human being. Bad people cannot be good journalists.

on Truth and Journalism

I do not believe in impartial journalism, I do not believe in formal objectivity. A journalist cannot be an indifferent witness; he should possess the quality that psychology calls empathy.

In countries where freedom of speech prevails, a journalist's freedom is limited by the interests of the newspaper he works for. In many cases a journalist, especially a young one, must make far-reaching compromises.

Can writing change anything? Yes. I believe this deeply. Without that belief I could not, would not be able to write.

Words have become cheap. They have multiplied, and in multiplying they have lost their value.

People remember what they want to remember, not what actually happened.

on Truth and Journalism

Only children ask important questions and truly want to learn the answers.

Three plagues threaten the world, three epidemics. The first is the plague of nationalism. The second is the plague of racism. The third is the plague of religious fundamentalism. All three share the same characteristic, the same common denominator: aggressive, all-powerful, total irrationality.

Only by the greatest simplification can we say: Africa. In reality, Africa does not exist.

Nothing builds a bond between people in Africa faster than shared laughter.

People do not starve because there is no food in the world. There is plenty, in abundance. But between those who want to eat and the full warehouses stands a high obstacle: political games. Whoever has weapons has food. Whoever has food has power.

Oil creates the illusion of a completely changed life, a life without work, a life for free.

Countries that refuse to accept people from the Third World will themselves turn into the Third World.

There is one place where Americans behave as in church — quietly, with concentration, devoutly — in a bank.

The average person is not especially curious about the world. There are not many such enthusiasts.

Do we really know what drives a person into the world? Is it curiosity?

At that time literature seemed to be the whole world. People sought in it the strength to live.

If you breathe deeply enough, everything smells.

It is never warm on the summits. Icy winds blow there.

If reason ruled the world, would history exist at all?

History is often the product of thoughtlessness. It is the bastard of human stupidity, the offspring of bewilderment, idiocy, and madness.

The stages of barbarism: first one destroys those who create values. Then also those who know what values are. True barbarism arrives when no one is any longer able to judge, no one knows that what they are doing is barbarism.

The higher the rank at which a crime was committed, the greater the probability that it will be regarded not as a crime, but as a necessary political move.

If, among many truths, you choose only one and follow it blindly, it will turn into falsehood and you will become a fanatic.

A civilization that asks no questions, that casts out the entire world of anxiety, criticism, and searching that expresses itself in questions, is a civilization standing still, paralyzed, immobile.

In times of peace, sons bury fathers; in war, fathers bury sons.

Human affairs run in circles, and in their turning they do not allow the same people to remain happy.

When questions appear that have no answers, it means that a crisis has arrived.

An anachronistic system is one that gives old answers to new questions.

on the World and History

Boorishness carries contempt and violence, vileness and the will to destroy.

Evil acts quickly, violently, with sudden crushing force, whereas good usually works more slowly and needs time to reveal itself and bear witness. That is why good is often late and loses.

I fear a world without values, without sensitivity, without thought. A world in which everything is possible. Because then what is most possible is evil.

If I were alone in a forest, no criminal could meet me there, I would hear no lies, no whistling of lashes.

Suspicion toward everyone is exhausting; one must trust someone, because one must rest beside someone.

No Louvre is worth two zlotys in Vorkuta.

on Values, Good and Evil

All it takes is to reach out your arm to embrace a girl, but all it also takes is to walk a few steps to lean over a coffin, and between what is the most beautiful life and what is the most cruel death — there we are.

A dictatorship never falls gradually and little by little, but always suddenly and completely. To the very end it appears strong, and that is why no one can predict the day it will cease to exist.

To write one sentence of your own, you must first read thousands written by others.

Bookshops increasingly resemble bakeries: they want only fresh goods.

Humor is a dangerous form of opposition.

In politics one must know how to wait. Whoever waits better, wins.

No palace collapses on its own.

If someone steps one pace ahead of history while carrying a weapon, he must die.

There come moments when the smallest event, a mere trifle, the most utter nonsense, will spark a revolution and unleash a war.

There is no worse combination than weapons, stupidity, and fear. Then one can expect the worst.

The point is that nationalism is always accompanied by conflict.

The vileness of power comes from the fact that a small mind has great possibilities.

Where there is absolute power, there is no space for individual opinions.

One of the aims of these operations was to create an uprooted human being, torn from his culture, his surroundings, and his landscape, and thus more defenceless and obedient toward the commands of the regime.

If someone held a position and did not steal, people withdrew from him: he aroused suspicion. Others said: he must be a spy. Values had their signs reversed.

The higher the goal you set for yourself, the more alone you will be.

We begin to understand many things too late, more things very late, and most things too late.

Fools know that they are in the majority, that they have the advantage, that they rule.

on Values, Good and Evil

Where prejudice lives, there is no place for independent thought.

When you rush, you see nothing, feel nothing, experience nothing. Haste kills the soul.

Destiny must fulfill itself.

What is interesting is that the same person has different habits in a different place.

How is life?

Stalin's chessboard.

The poverty of the soil.

The Emperor treated sleep as a system of government.

From the arrival of Berzin onward, Kolyma became the nightmarish reality of the twentieth century.

Morning and dusk are the most pleasant hours in Africa. The sun no longer burns or has not yet begun to do so — it lets you exist, lets you live.

The European mind accepts that it has limits, acknowledges its own imperfection, is sceptical, doubts, poses question marks. In other cultures this is absent.

Racism, hatred of others, comes from colonialism, from a sense of superiority.

The bush will teach you to value water more than all the riches of the world.

on Africa

The price of a slave was set by the quality of his teeth. People pulled out their own teeth or filed them down with stones, to keep their market value low. Such suffering — just to be free.

A person who has lived through a great war is different from someone who has never lived through any. They are two distinct species. They will never find common ground, because war, in truth, cannot be described; it cannot be shared — you cannot say to someone: here, take some of my war.

In war a man lives from day to day, because he does not know whether he will live to see the next one.

War is above all a great mess, in which it is hard to make sense of anything.

The price of a slave was set according to the quality of his teeth. People pulled their own teeth out or filed them down with stones so as to have a low market value. So much torment, just to be free.

on Africa

A dictatorship never falls gradually and bit by bit, but always instantly and completely. To the very end it appears strong, and that is why the day it ceases to exist cannot be predicted.

on Power and Politics

In politics you have to know how to wait. Whoever waits better, wins.

on Power and Politics

I cannot stand this language: white, black, yellow. The myth of race is repellent. (...) All that matters is the heart. Nothing else counts.

You need only reach out your hand to embrace a girl, but you need only take a few steps to bend over a coffin — and between what is the most beautiful life and what is the cruellest death, there we are.

on Life

Despotism fears only one thing — independent, self-reliant thinking.

Revolution is deliverance, but it is also pain. The two feelings tangle and mix together.

If a man held office and did not steal, a void formed around him: he aroused suspicion. Others would say, he must be a spy. Values carried a reversed sign.

on Power and Politics

A man who has lived through a great war is different from one who has never lived through any. They are two different species. They will never find a common language, because war truly cannot be described; it cannot be shared.

A war begins long before the first shot is fired.

Only with the greatest of simplifications can we say: Africa. In reality, Africa does not exist.

on Africa

Nothing builds a bond between people in Africa faster than laughing together.

on Africa

Morning and dusk are the pleasantest hours in Africa. The sun is not yet burning, or no longer stings — it lets you be, it lets you live.

on Africa

Racism, hatred of others, comes out of colonialism, out of a sense of superiority.

on Africa

The European mind acknowledges that it has limits, accepts its own imperfection, is sceptical, doubts, puts question marks. Other cultures do not have this.

on Africa

What is striking is that the same person has different customs in a different place.

on Africa · on Travel

Fate must be fulfilled.

on Life

The higher the goal you set yourself, the more alone you will be.

on Life

Many things we begin to understand too late, more of them very late, and most of them too late.

on Life

The vileness of power comes from this: that a small mind is given great possibilities.

on Power and Politics

Where power is absolute, there is no room for individual opinion.

on Power and Politics

There is no worse combination than weapons, stupidity and fear. You can then expect the very worst.

on Power and Politics

Humour is a dangerous form of opposition.

on Power and Politics

No palace ever falls down by itself.

on Power and Politics

There come moments when the smallest event, a mere trifle, some piece of nonsense, will set off a revolution and unleash a war.

on Power and Politics

If a man carrying arms steps a single pace ahead of history, he must perish.

on Power and Politics

One of the aims of these operations was to create an uprooted human being, torn out of his culture, his surroundings and his landscape, and thereby more defenceless and more obedient to the demands of the regime.

on Power and Politics

Three plagues, three contagions, threaten the world. The first is the plague of nationalism. The second is the plague of racism. The third is the plague of religious fundamentalism. All three share one trait, a common denominator — an aggressive, all-powerful, total irrationality.

on the World and History

People do not go hungry because there is no food in the world. There is plenty of it, an excess. But between those who want to eat and the full warehouses stands a high obstacle: political calculation. Whoever has the guns has the food. Whoever has the food has the power.

on the World and History

A civilisation that asks no questions, that casts out of its orbit the whole world of unease, criticism and searching, is a civilisation standing still, paralysed, motionless.

on the World and History

If reason ruled the world, would history even exist?

on the World and History

History is often the product of thoughtlessness. It is the bastard child of human stupidity, the offspring of blindness, idiocy and madness.

on the World and History

In times of peace sons bury their fathers; in war, fathers bury their sons.

on the World and History

Human affairs run in a circle, and its turning does not allow the same people to be happy.

on the World and History

When questions appear to which there are no answers, it means a crisis has arrived.

on the World and History

If out of many truths you choose only one and follow it blindly, it turns into a falsehood and you become a fanatic.

on the World and History

The average person is not especially curious about the world. There are few such enthusiasts.

on Travel

Do we really know what drives a person out into the world? Is it curiosity?

on Travel

When you are in a hurry you see nothing, experience nothing, live through nothing — haste kills the soul.

on Travel

I do not believe in impartial journalism, I do not believe in formal objectivity. A journalist cannot be an indifferent witness; he should possess the capacity that psychology calls empathy.

on Truth and Journalism

In countries where freedom of speech prevails, a journalist's freedom is limited by the interests of the paper he works for. In many cases a journalist, especially a young one, has to make far-reaching compromises.

on Truth and Journalism

Can writing change anything? Yes. I deeply believe it can. Without that belief I would not know how, I could not write.

on Truth and Journalism

Words have grown cheap. They have multiplied and lost their value.

on Truth and Journalism

Only children ask important questions and really want to find something out.

on Truth and Journalism

To write one sentence of your own, you have to read thousands written by others.

on Truth and Journalism

Bookshops look more and more like bakeries: they want only fresh goods.

on Truth and Journalism

Literature seemed to be the whole world then. People looked to it for the strength to live.

on Truth and Journalism

Evil acts quickly, violently, with a sudden, crushing force, whereas good as a rule acts more slowly; it needs time to reveal itself and bear witness — and so good is often late, and loses.

on Values, Good and Evil

I fear a world without values, without sensitivity, without thought. A world in which everything is possible. Because then evil is the most possible thing of all.

on Values, Good and Evil

Boorishness is a carrier of contempt and violence, of meanness and the will to destroy.

on Values, Good and Evil

The degrees of barbarism: first those who create values are destroyed. Then those who still know what values are. Real barbarism is when nobody can judge any more, when nobody knows that what he is doing is barbarism.

on Values, Good and Evil

The higher the level at which a crime is committed, the greater the likelihood that it will be regarded not as a crime but as a necessary political move.

on Values, Good and Evil

Where superstition lives, there is no place for independent thought.

on Values, Good and Evil

Suspecting everyone is exhausting; you have to trust someone, because you need to rest beside someone.

on Values, Good and Evil

Oil creates the illusion of a completely changed life, life without work, life for free.

From the arrival of Berzin, Kolyma became one of the nightmare realities of the twentieth century.

The most important thing is the man, His Imperial Majesty, and everything else can be bought and sold.

It is never warm at the summit. Icy gales blow there.

If you sniff hard enough, everything stinks.

Countries that will not take in people from the Third World will themselves turn into the Third World.

There is one place where Americans behave as if they were in church: quietly, with concentration, devoutly — in the bank.

If I were alone in the forest, no wrongdoer could meet me, I would hear neither a lie nor the crack of a whip.