Jan Morris

“In the great and sober library of cities, Venice is the most flamboyantly, ingeniously, and seductively illustrated.”

“To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the music the words make.”

“Travel, for me, is a little bit like being in love, because all of a sudden, all your senses are sharpened.”

“Gender is not a matter of choice. It is a matter of discovery.”

“The city itself, every corner of it, was a performance.”

“Kindness is the supreme intelligence.”

“To be a nationalist is to be a conspirator, in a conspiracy of nuts, fools, and mythomaniacs.”

“I don't think of myself as a travel writer. I think of myself as a writer who travels.”

“Style is the recognition of the spirit of the age.”

“A sense of humour is the only divine quality of man.”

“History is a great deal more than the simple record of what happened.”

“I have been two people, in a sense. I have been a man and I have been a woman.”

“The journey is the destination.”

“The world is not a problem to be solved; it is a mystery to be experienced.”

“Every city has its own smell, its own taste.”

“I'm a republican in my heart, but I'm a loyal subject of the Queen.”