Quotes from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City

Tahir Shah ·  240 pages

Rating: (110 votes)


“The forest did not tolerate frailty of body or mind. Show your weakness, and it would consume you without hesitation.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“On a hard jungle journey nothing is so important as having a team you can trust.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Previous journeys had taught me the danger of taking too much stuff.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“On a harsh expedition, there's no space for anyone who does not intend to finish.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Through a strange kind of geographic arrogance, Europeans like to think that the world was a silent, dark, unknown place until they trooped out and discovered it.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City



“As the head of an expedition, you can't pussyfoot around being polite to everyone. You have to show your teeth once in a while; a little growling goes a long way.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“The quest for a lost city erodes your body, damaging you beyond all reason. But it is your mind that bears the heaviest toll. Listen to the doubters, the worriers and the weak, and the vaguest hope of success evaporates.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Searching for a lost city is a particularly European obsession.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“There are two ways to find a lost city. The first is to rely on luck alone, the second is to control all the information.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“The situation was different in the jungle. Every inch of ground had to be earned, and was done so through much exertion with the blade.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City



“The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Any man who has ever led an army, an expedition, or a group of Boy Scouts has sadism in his bones.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Normally I would have been the first to go in search of cannibal monks, particularly as I had heard of a similar tradition at a nunnery in the Philippines. It's the sort of quest I can't resist.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“The rain of Madre de Dios is similar to that of the Amazon, but there is a petrifying aspect to it, as if it seeks to wound rather than to nurture.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“The ability to tell a good route from a terrible one is a valuable skill when leading an expedition. Unfortunately for us all, it was a skill I did not possess.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City



“Only a man who has his health, a full stomach and wears clean clothes would ever entertain the notion of tracking down the greatest lost city on Earth.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Previous experience had taught me that any expedition marches on its stomach.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Previous journeys in search of treasure have taught me that a zigzag strategy is the best way to get ahead.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“The only thing they valued higher than ammunition were Man United footballs.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City



“As I saw it, a little threatening was a good thing. It kept the men on their toes.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“As I see the world, there's one element that's even more corrosive than missionaries: tourists. It's not that I feel above them in any way, but that the very places they patronize are destroyed by their affection.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“Running an expedition can bring out the worst in a man. It can make you a power-crazed monster.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“A man who embarks on a journey must know when to end it.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


“The porters could always be coaxed to continue a little further through driving rain by the mere suggestion of a Pot Noodle at the end.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City



“Ours was not going to be a clone of the usual expeditions, oozing with sleekness. It was clear from the start that oddity was our advantage.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City


Video

About the author

Tahir Shah
Born place: in London, The United Kingdom
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The energy was still flowing steadily, and Kait had a sense of cleansing. Her entire body felt light and airy, as if her feet weren't touching the ground.”
― L.J. Smith, quote from Dark Visions


“Whoever this man was, he seemed to have less life than anyone in the cemetery. Above or below ground.”
― Anthony Horowitz, quote from Stormbreaker


“I declare to goodness, I don't know but sometimes I believe in women's rights. If women were voting and making laws, I believe they'd have better sense. (Mrs. McKee to Laura, regarding homesteading laws)”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder, quote from These Happy Golden Years


“ولی خب ، عجیب است تعریف چیزهای خوبی که آدم داشته و روزهای خوشی که گذرانده خیلی طول نمیکشد و زیاد هم شنیدنی نیست اما از چیزهای ناراحت کننده و دلهره آور و حتی فجیع ، قصه خوبی در می آید.”
― Chuck Dixon, quote from The Hobbit: Graphic Novel


“And then he left, and came back, and our lives fell apart, like a well-loved book that you’d
read and read again, until one night you picked it up to read yourself to sleep and the binding collapsed, sending dozens of pages spiraling toward the floor.”
― Jennifer Weiner, quote from Good in Bed


Interesting books

The Best Man
(22.1K)
The Best Man
by Kristan Higgins
Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible
(3.2K)
Sun Stand Still: Wha...
by Steven Furtick
A Month in the Country
(5.3K)
A Month in the Count...
by J.L. Carr
Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
(852)
Family Wisdom from t...
by Robin S. Sharma
Sacrifice
(1.9K)
Sacrifice
by Cayla Kluver
The Worthing Saga
(8K)
The Worthing Saga
by Orson Scott Card

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.