Bernard Ollivier > Quotes

“Solitary walking forces us to confront ourselves, freeing us from the limitations of the body as well as those of our usual environment that restrict us to conventional, acceptable, and prepackaged ways of thinking.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“We are on entirely different journeys. They cross the country, they view it and take pictures of it . . . but never walk through its front door. Aren’t I clever, bragging like this, telling myself that I, unlike them, am an authentic traveler!”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Those who want to die in bed and never stray far from it are already dead.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“I still stubbornly crave fresh encounters, new faces, and new lives. I still dream of the faraway steppe, of wind and rain on my face, of basking in the heat of different suns.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“In the Islamic world, to welcome a traveler in one’s home and treat him as best as possible is the believer’s duty. To be hospitable (misafirperver), he explains, means that for you, a good Muslim, it is your duty to treat your guest (misafir), the traveler, with the utmost respect.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Turkish drivers are maniacs.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Were I to take these warnings seriously, I would immediately reboard the Samsun and go back the way I came. The only risk a tourist runs in Venice is having to pay too much for a cappuccino.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Prior to the days of the Soviets, a woman could be repudiated for any reason. Her jewels, inherited from her mother, were therefore her only worldly possessions and her sole safety net and source of independence, should she need it. So she always kept them on her person. Although repudiation is now a thing of the past, brides continue the tradition by donning all their jewelry for the wedding.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Winds of the Steppe: Walking the Great Silk Road from Central Asia to China

“Beginning in 712 CE, the year the Arabs captured Samarkand, Islam progressively grew to become the region’s only religion, all the way up to the early twentieth century. Prior to their arrival, however, both Zoroastrianism (which was a state religion in Persia) and Nestorianism were well established. The conquerors, realizing just how important trade and money were between the two rivers, decreed that anyone who converted to Islam would be exempt from taxation. A brilliant idea—too brilliant, in fact! So many people renounced their former religion that, in just a few short years, the treasury ran dry. So they decided to levy a new tax, resulting in public outcry and unrest that finally settled down around the year 750.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Winds of the Steppe: Walking the Great Silk Road from Central Asia to China

“Galicia.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Last year, for my first year in “retirement,” I hiked one of the world’s oldest roads: The Way of St. James of Compostela, from Paris to Galicia. Two thousand three hundred kilometers (1,430 miles) on foot, pack on my back like a donkey.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Esteem for those who travel, disdain for those who stay at home.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“I’m beginning to think that there’s either something about their rank that quickly fattens them up or that bosses are chosen on the basis of weight.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Winds of the Steppe: Walking the Great Silk Road from Central Asia to China