42 quotes
Why, it's a perfect little city. If you have never been to Durham, go there at once. Take my car. It's wonderful.
Notes from a Small Island (1995)
Physics is really nothing more than a search for ultimate simplicity, but so far all we have is a kind of elegant messiness.
A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)
The thing about the Army Corps of Engineers is that they don’t build things very well.
A Walk in the Woods (1997)
There are three stages in scientific discovery. First, people deny that it is true, then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.
A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)
Let’s not lose our perspective here. The Smokies achieved their natural splendor without the guidance of a national park service and don’t actually need it now.
A Walk in the Woods (1997)
America was entering the age not just of the automobile but of the retarded attention span.
A Walk in the Woods (1997)
I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.
The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)
Excuse me, but I just have to say this. You are more stupid than a paramecium.
A Walk in the Woods (1997)
For forty years or so this was the world headquarters of conspicuous consumption.
The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)
If the mattress stains were anything to go by, a previous user had not so much suffered from incontinence as rejoiced in it. He had evidently included the pillow in his celebrations.
A Walk in the Woods (1997)
Blackpool's illuminations are nothing if not splendid, and they are not splendid.
Notes from a Small Island (1995)
Every dog on the face of the earth wants me dead.
In a Sunburned Country (US) / Down Under (UK) (2000)
Above all, what is oddest to the outsider is that Aborigines just aren't there.
In a Sunburned Country (US) / Down Under (UK) (2000)
The best that can be said for Norwegian television is that it gives you the sensation of a coma without the worry and inconvenience.
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1991)
“Tell me, did they specify ’asshole’ on the job description, or did you take a course?“
A Walk in the Woods (1997)
I don't care how paranoid and irrational this makes me sound, but I know for a fact that the people of Paris want me dead.
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1991)
Absolute brain size does not tell you everything — or possibly sometimes even much. Elephants and whales both have brains larger than ours, but you wouldn't have much trouble outwitting them in contract negotiations.
A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)
There is always a little more toothpaste in the tube. Think about it.
I'm a Stranger Here Myself (US) / Notes From a Big Country (UK) (1998)
We couldn't place their accents but we thought the smaller one might be Australian since he seemed so at home down under.
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1991)
Nearly a quarter of American men were in the Armed forces [in 1968]. The rest were in school, in prison, or were George W. Bush.
The Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (2006)