Travel quotes and the power of words to inspire us to move

So what is it that's so inspiring about travel quotes? About reading profound snippets of writing plucked from novels, memoirs and diaries that have already been repeated countless times? And taken out of context too. Picture this: a tired travel editor, half listening to the banalities of backpacker conversation, and wishing he was down the beach surfing instead of reading copy submitted by his writers, is suddenly engaged and inspired to travel again - by reading great travel quotes! Like these: "People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home." (Dagobert D. Runes) and “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” (Freya Stark); “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”(Paul Theroux); “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” and “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” (both by Robert Louis Stevenson). And this one from the comments following the post from one of the readers, Cedric Pieterse: "When you get back from your travels, and tell your friends of all the interesting people you have met in obscure bars and hostels. Only to realise after years of travel, you are the guy they talk about." Somehow I don't think Cedric was the first person to say that, but anyway... now, I didn't go trawling through Brave New World's archives this morning to find these '50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes of All Time', compiled by travel writer Lola Akinmade, rather they found me... a link to the story was forwarded to me by a friend who obviously things I need to get inspired. But the fact that these tidbits did get me thinking has indeed got me thinking... about the ability of words to inspire us. And in this case, to inspire us to travel. I've been noticing a lot of travel quotes being tweeped on Twitter too. And Twitter's 140-character requirement is the perfect vehicle for sharing quotes, right? So how is it that 12, 14 or 16 words or so, taken out of their original context, can have such power and work such magic? What do you think? Do quotes work to inspire you? Or do you just read them, shrug them off and think "not bloody Robert Louis Stevenson again!" I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Pictured? More people sitting around a fountain, like they have nothing better to do... this time in Krakov, Poland. See my last post.