--- title: "3 Arab Quotes By Diana Abu-Jaber" description: "3 Arab quotes by Diana Abu-Jaber. Plus more from Diana Abu-Jaber and more Arab sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_the-loneliness-of-the-arab-is-a-terrible_407828.png" --- > [“The loneliness of the arab is a terrible thing; it is all consuming. It is already present like a little shadow under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/the-loneliness-of-the-arab-is-a-terrible-thing-it-is-all-consuming-it/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_the-loneliness-of-the-arab-is-a-terrible_407828.png) > [“Slavery has been outlawed in most arab countries for years now but there are villages in jordan made up entirely of descendants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/slavery-has-been-outlawed-in-most-arab-countries-for-years-now-but/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_slavery-has-been-outlawed-in-most-arab-c_667910.png) > [I heard friends and strangers saying, "You don't look Arab - what are you supposed to be?" It really is a tired…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/i-heard-friends-and-strangers-saying-you-don-t-look-arab-what-are-you/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_i-heard-friends-and-strangers-saying-you_2056278.png) ## Other authors on Arab - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-elliott-abrams-32793.jpg) Elliott Abrams 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/elliott-abrams/) - [Zeina Kassem 12 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/zeina-kassem/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-wadah-khanfar-94194.jpg) Wadah Khanfar 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/wadah-khanfar/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-shereen-el-feki-84887.jpg) Shereen El Feki 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/shereen-el-feki/) - [Edgar Bronfman, Sr 8 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/edgar-bronfman-sr/) - [Yasmine Hamdan 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/yasmine-hamdan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-engel-78545.jpg) Richard Engel 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/richard-engel/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Diana Abu-Jaber > [If you only write for 15 minutes at a time, you can write a book and still have time for Legos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/if-you-only-write-for-15-minutes-at-a-time-you-can-write-a-book-and/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“The streets of Aqaba are shell spirals and, on summer nights, crowded and complicated as a woman's heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/the-streets-of-aqaba-are-shell-spirals-and-on-summer-nights-crowded/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [I'm constantly at war with myself to quit goofing around, and the internet hasn't helped that any. I've learned that I have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/i-m-constantly-at-war-with-myself-to-quit-goofing-around-and-the/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [Love and prayer are intimately related.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/love-and-prayer-are-intimately-related/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“Sometimes when she lies awake her body feels as finely made as a tuning fork. She can hear and smell the most delicate things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/sometimes-when-she-lies-awake-her-body-feels-as-finely-made-as-a/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [The daily writing practice is something I used to hear batted around a lot in writing workshops - which is probably why I dropped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/the-daily-writing-practice-is-something-i-used-to-hear-batted-around/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“...tasting a piece of bread that someone bought is like looking at that person, but tasting a piece of bread that they baked is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/tasting-a-piece-of-bread-that-someone-bought-is-like-looking-at-that/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“She thinks of Stanley's colored pencil drawings of theoretical businesses: a cafe, a bookshop, and, always, a grocery store. When she was ten and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/she-thinks-of-stanley-s-colored-pencil-drawings-of-theoretical/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“The loneliness of the arab is a terrible thing; it is all consuming. It is already present like a little shadow under the heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/the-loneliness-of-the-arab-is-a-terrible-thing-it-is-all-consuming-it/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“She's been scouted by Ford and Elite- real New York agencies. Micah, the agent for Elite- a tall black guy in silver eyeliner- said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/she-s-been-scouted-by-ford-and-elite-real-new-york-agencies-micah-the/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“On the top rack is a cooled and decorated seven-layered 'opera' cake. Her client- the Peruvian ambassador- had requested a "tropical" theme for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/on-the-top-rack-is-a-cooled-and-decorated-seven-layered-opera-cake/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [Here is something you have to understand about stories: They point you in the right direction but they can't take you all the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/here-is-something-you-have-to-understand-about-stories-they-point-you/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“The first time Avis knelt on a chair and stirred eggs into flour to make a vanilla cake, she had an inkling of how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/the-first-time-avis-knelt-on-a-chair-and-stirred-eggs-into-flour-to/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“You want to protect you children, don't you? You let them out of your body but you never let them all the way out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/you-want-to-protect-you-children-don-t-you-you-let-them-out-of-your/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) > [“..a phantasm, a pink-palmed jinn, a ghost from one of the drowned cities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/a-phantasm-a-pink-palmed-jinn-a-ghost-from-one-of-the-drowned-cities/) [Diana Abu-Jaber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-abu-jaber/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/diana-abu-jaber/#itemlist", "name": "3 Arab Quotes By Diana Abu-Jaber", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The loneliness of the arab is a terrible thing; it is all consuming. 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They say things like, well, really we're indo-russian-asian european- chaldeans, so in the end the only one who gets to be the arab is the same little old bedouin with his goats and his sheep and his poetry about his goats and his sheep, because he doesnt know that he's the arab, and what he doesnt know wont hurt him.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diana Abu-Jaber" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/slavery-has-been-outlawed-in-most-arab-countries-for-years-now-but/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_slavery-has-been-outlawed-in-most-arab-c_667910.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_slavery-has-been-outlawed-in-most-arab-c_667910.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/184/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_slavery-has-been-outlawed-in-most-arab-c_667910.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Slavery has been outlawed in most arab countries for years now but there are villages in jordan made up…” — Diana Abu-Jaber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I heard friends and strangers saying, \"You don't look Arab - what are you supposed to be?\" It really is a tired old problem for children of immigrants and kids of mixed race, constantly trying to explain yourself. Eventually, you give up and say, \"Okay, what do you think I am?\" When you're in the midst of it, you come to understand that \"race\" is a loose social construct, a series of visual impressions, and that your identity can be whatever the hell crazy thing you want it to be, you just have to grow a sense of humor and cultivate selective deafness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diana Abu-Jaber" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-abu-jaber/i-heard-friends-and-strangers-saying-you-don-t-look-arab-what-are-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_i-heard-friends-and-strangers-saying-you_2056278.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_i-heard-friends-and-strangers-saying-you_2056278.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/113/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_i-heard-friends-and-strangers-saying-you_2056278.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I heard friends and strangers saying, \"You don't look Arab - what are you supposed to be?\" It really is a…” — Diana Abu-Jaber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/diana-abu-jaber/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/diana-abu-jaber/", "name": "Arab Quotes by Diana Abu-Jaber", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/diana-abu-jaber/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95e/diana-abu-jaber-10382_arab_the-loneliness-of-the-arab-is-a-terrible_407828.png" }, "description": "3 Arab quotes by Diana Abu-Jaber. 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