Basically I have difficulty in defining myself. I’ve reached this age in life without ever wanting to belong to anything, not a church, nor a religion. I’ve never belonged to any political party, and never put down my name for any association, be it a pro-hunting or a pro-animal rights group. Not because I’m not by nature on the side of the birds and against the hunters who hide in huts to shoot them, but because I find any kind of organization restrictive. I need to feel free. Such freedom is awkward, because it means every time a situation arises where I’m forced to decide what to think and do, all I have to fall back on is my own head and heart rather than the easy, ready-made line of some party or the words of some sacred text.

Tiziano Terzani, Leopard Hide