Ella Maillart
  • The usual channels of university studies or secretarial work did not appeal to me. I cherished difficult dreams through confidence in myself.

  • Every time I took a long leave from home, I felt as if I were going to conquer the world. Or rather, take possession of what is my birthright, my inheritance.

  • One travels to run away from routine, that dreadful routine that kills all imagination and all our capacity for enthusiasm.

  • I gained direct knowledge of the life of the poor in big towns: I have lived the narrowing mechanism of its conditioning and feared it.

  • Certain travellers give the impression that they keep moving because only then do they feel fully alive.