Rick Steves > Quotes

“Self-consciousness kills communication.”
― Rick Steves

“Be fanatically positive and militantly optimistic. If something is not to your liking, change your liking.”
― Rick Steves

“I would like travelers, especially American travelers, to travel in a way that broadens their perspective, because I think Americans tend to be some of the most ethnocentric people on the planet. It's not just Americans, it's the big countries. It's the biggest countries that tend to be ethnocentric or ugly. There are ugly Russians, ugly Germans, ugly Japanese and ugly Americans. You don't find ugly Belgians or ugly Bulgarians, they're just too small to think the world is their norm.”
― Rick Steves

“Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate sourvenir is a broader perspective.”
― Rick Steves

“Ideally, travel broadens our perspectives personally, culturally, and politically. Suddenly, the palette with which we paint the story of our lives has more colors.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act

“I believe if you’re going to bomb someone you should know them first. It should hurt when you kill someone.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act

“If you don't like a place, maybe you don't know enough about it... Give a culture the benefit of your open mind.”
― Rick Steves

“Feed the hungry and you're a saint, ask why they are hungry and you're a communist.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act

“Travel is intensified living … and one of the last great sources of legal adventure.”
― Rick Steves

“People everywhere hear the excuse “there’s not enough money”. In actuality, there is enough money… just different priorities. New stadium, heathcare for all, faster trains, extravagant cathedral, subsidized education, tax cuts, next-generation bomber … each society makes different choices according to its priorities.”
― Rick Steves

“As a traveler, I've often found that the more a culture differs from my own, the more I am struck by its essential humanity.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act

“Globetrotting destroys ethnocentricity, helping us understand and appreciate other cultures. Rather than fear the diversity on this planet, celebrate it. Among your most prized souvenirs will be the strands of different cultures you choose to knit into your own character. The world is a cultural yarn shop, and Back Door travelers are weaving the ultimate tapestry.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol

“Europe’s reluctance to go to war frustrates some Americans. I believe their relative pacifism is because Europeans know the reality of war, while most Americans do not. …. It’s easier to feel detached when a war is something you watch on the nightly news, rather than something that killed your grandfather or destroyed your hometown.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act

“Fear is for people who don't get out very much.”
― Rick Steves

“In Denmark, “social trust”—a general feeling that you trust your fellow citizens and the pillar institutions of government, law courts, police, hospitals, and so on—is generally found to be the highest in the world. A perfect example of Danish “social trust” is the image of babies sleeping in carriages outside a restaurant while the parents eat inside. You might say, “But no one is watching!” A Dane will say, “Everyone is watching.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam,”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2014

“France is Europe’s most diverse, tasty, and exciting country to explore. It’s a cultural bouillabaisse that surprises travelers with its varied, complex flavors.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves France 2019

“To me, understanding people and their lives is what travel is about, no matter where you go.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“For example, new EU member Poland survived the communist era without collectivizing its small family farms. But now that they’ve joined the EU, collectivization is mandatory.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2014

“I remember when the standard farewell when I set off on another trip was “Bon voyage!” But today, Americans tend to say, “Have a safe trip.” (When I hear this, I’m inclined to say, “Well, you have a safe stay-at-home—because where I’m going is statistically much safer than where you’re staying.”)”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“St. Galgano was a 12th-century saint who renounced his past as a knight to become a hermit. Lacking a cross to display, he created his own by miraculously burying his sword up to its hilt in a stone, à la King Arthur, but in reverse. After his death, a large Cistercian monastery complex grew. Today, all you’ll see is the roofless, ruined abbey and, on a nearby hill, the Chapel of San Galgano with its fascinating dome and sword in the stone.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Florence & Tuscany 2014

“Europeans marvel at how Americans seem willing, almost eager, to work themselves into an early grave. My European friends have told me proudly, “We don’t live to work…we work to live.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“Europe knows what a war is. It ripped itself to shreds twice within my grandparents’ lifetime. Consider France’s losses in World War I. France (with one-quarter as many people as we have) lost as many people as the US lost in the entire Iraq War—over 4,400 people—in one day…many times. They lost as many people as we lost in Vietnam (60,000) in one month. And then it happened again and again until, by the end of World War I, an estimated half of all the men in France between the ages of 15 and 30 were casualties.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“The French (and Europeans in general) place a high value on speaking quietly in restaurants and on trains.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Paris 2014

“I asked my new friend, “Were you born here?” He thought about it, paused, and then said, “No, ’twas ’bout five miles down the road.” Later, I asked him, “Have you lived here all your life?” He winked and said, “Not yet.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“Siena’s claim to caloric fame is its panforte, a rich, chewy concoction of nuts, honey, and candied fruits that impresses even fruitcake haters. There are a few varieties: Margherita, dusted in powdered sugar, is more fruity, while panpepato has a spicy, peppery crust. Locals prefer a chewy, white macaroon-and-almond cookie called ricciarelli.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Italy 2014

“If boots do hit the ground in a war, Europeans believe it will be because they have failed to prevent it. They prefer endless diplomacy to once-in-a-while war. Europe’s reluctance to go to war frustrates some Americans. I believe their relative pacifism is because Europeans know the reality of war, while most Americans do not. Of course, if you have a loved one who has fought or died in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam, you know what a war is. But as a society, the US can’t remember actually hosting a war.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“Travelers recognize that the results of an election here in the US can have a greater impact on poor people half a world away than it does on middle-class American voters. My travels have taught me that, even if motived only by greed, you don’t want to be really rich in a desperately poor world. With this in mind, I think of it not as noble or heroic, but simply pragmatic to bring a compassion for the needy along with me into the voting booth.”
― Rick Steves, Travel as a Political Act

“Regardless of your journey, you can put a little pilgrim in your travels and find your own personal jubilation.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves Travel as a Political Act

“To say that Siena and Florence have always been competitive is an understatement. In medieval times, a statue of Venus stood on Il Campo. After the plague hit Siena, the monks blamed the pagan statue. The people cut it to pieces and buried it along the walls of Florence.”
― Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Florence & Tuscany 2014