Ella Maillart
Ella Maillart
Ella Maillartwas a French-speaking Swiss adventurer, travel writer and photographer, as well as a sportswoman...
NationalitySwiss
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth20 February 1903
CountrySwitzerland
cruise far following journey left question sooner
No sooner had I left to cruise the Mediterranean than the following question preoccupied me: How far does one kill a journey by making it become real?
analyse led obeying strong today urge
When I started travelling, I was 18; I was instinctively obeying a strong urge. Today I can analyse that urge and see where it has led me.
distance talking horizon
The wideness of the horizon has to be inside us, cannot be anywhere but inside us, otherwise what we speak about is geographic distances.
character journey perfect
The benefits of the accomplished journey cannot be weighed in terms of perfect moments, but in terms of how this journey affects and changes our character.
sea sailing nautical
The sooner we learn to be jointly responsible, the easier the sailing will be.
boys climbing laughing
You can feel as brave as Columbus starting for the unknown the first time you enter a Chinese lane full of boys laughing at you, or when you risk climbing down in a Tibetan pub for a meal of rotten meat.
able
Only when one is able to grasp wideness can one possess it.
children blessed artist
One travels so as to learn once more how to marvel at life in the way a child does. And blessed be the poet, the artist who knows how to keep alive his sense of wonder.
home conquer-the-world long
Every time I took a long leave from home, I felt as if I were going to conquer the world. Or rather, take possession of what is my birthright, my inheritance.
towns poor bigs
I gained direct knowledge of the life of the poor in big towns: I have lived the narrowing mechanism of its conditioning and feared it.
depressing ambition literature
I did not want to be depressed by the gap existing between my weakness and my ambition.
confidence dream usual
The usual channels of university studies or secretarial work did not appeal to me. I cherished difficult dreams through confidence in myself.
self giving judging
Not only does travel give us a new system of reckoning, it also brings to the fore unknown aspects of our own self. Our consciousness being broadened and enriched, we shall judge ourselves more correctly.
children parent house
We want to feel that this earth is all ours, like our parents' house when we were children.