"The First Law of Journalism: to confirm existing prejudice, rather than contradict it."

"They keep telling us that in war truth is the first casualty, which is nonsense since it implies that in times of peace truth stays out of the sick bay or the graveyard."

"A childish soul not inoculated with compulsory prayer is a soul open to any religious infection."

"Be careful about Burma. Most people cannot remember whether it was Siam and has become Thailand, or whether it is now part of Malaysia and should be called Sri Lanka."

"The travel writer seeks the world we have lost - the lost valleys of the imagination."