--- title: "3 Arab Quotes By T. E. Lawrence" description: "3 Arab quotes by T. E. Lawrence. Plus more from T. E. Lawrence and more Arab sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28f/t-e-lawrence-10943_arab_arab-civilizations-had-been-of-an-abstra_476696.png" --- > [Arab civilizations had been of an abstract nature, moral and intellectual rather than applied; and their lack of public spirit made their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/arab-civilizations-had-been-of-an-abstract-nature-moral-and/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28f/t-e-lawrence-10943_arab_arab-civilizations-had-been-of-an-abstra_476696.png) > [The foreigners come out here always to teach, whereas they had much better learn, for, in everything but wits and knowledge, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/the-foreigners-come-out-here-always-to-teach-whereas-they-had-much-2/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/t-e-lawrence-10943_always_the-foreigners-come-out-here-always-to-t_1594885.jpg) > [If you wear Arab things, wear the best. Clothes are significant among the tribes, and you must wear the appropriate, and appear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/if-you-wear-arab-things-wear-the-best-clothes-are-significant-among/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dda/t-e-lawrence-10943_agree_if-you-wear-arab-things-wear-the-best-cl_2515015.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 T. E. Lawrence > [It is difficult to keep quiet when everything is being done wrong, but the less you lose your temper the greater your advantage. Also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/it-is-difficult-to-keep-quiet-when-everything-is-being-done-wrong-but/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Some of the evil of my tale may have been inherent in our circumstances. For years we lived anyhow with one another in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/some-of-the-evil-of-my-tale-may-have-been-inherent-in-our/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Your success will be proportioned to the amount of mental effort you devote to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/your-success-will-be-proportioned-to-the-amount-of-mental-effort-you/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Club Secretary: I say, Lawrence. You are a clown! Lawrence: We can't all be lion tamers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/club-secretary-i-say-lawrence-you-are-a-clown-lawrence-we-can-t-all/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [He feared his maturity as it grew upon him with its ripe thought, its skill, its finished art; yet which lacked the poetry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/he-feared-his-maturity-as-it-grew-upon-him-with-its-ripe-thought-its/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [I've been and am absurdly over-estimated. There are no supermen and I'm quite ordinary, and will say so whatever the artistic results. In that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/i-ve-been-and-am-absurdly-over-estimated-there-are-no-supermen-and-i/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/do-not-try-to-do-too-much-with-your-own-hands-better-the-arabs-do-it-2/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Arab civilizations had been of an abstract nature, moral and intellectual rather than applied; and their lack of public spirit made their excellent private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/arab-civilizations-had-been-of-an-abstract-nature-moral-and/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves; yet when we achieved, and the new world dawned, the old men came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/we-lived-many-lives-in-those-whirling-campaigns-never-sparing/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Bedouin ways were hard even for those brought up to them, and for strangers, terrible: a death in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/bedouin-ways-were-hard-even-for-those-brought-up-to-them-and-for/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“In my case, the effort for these years to live in the dress of Arabs, and to imitate their mental foundation, quitted me of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/in-my-case-the-effort-for-these-years-to-live-in-the-dress-of-arabs/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [A first difficulty of the Arab movement was to say who the Arabs were. Being a manufactured people, their name had been changing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/a-first-difficulty-of-the-arab-movement-was-to-say-who-the-arabs-were/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [A thick headcloth forms a good protection against the sun, and if you wear a hat your best Arab friends will be ashamed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/a-thick-headcloth-forms-a-good-protection-against-the-sun-and-if-you/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [If I could talk it like Dahoum, you would never be tired of listening to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/if-i-could-talk-it-like-dahoum-you-would-never-be-tired-of-listening/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [There is an ideal standard somewhere and only that matters and I cannot find it. Hence the aimlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/there-is-an-ideal-standard-somewhere-and-only-that-matters-and-i/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arab/t-e-lawrence/#itemlist", "name": "3 Arab Quotes By T. E. Lawrence", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Arab civilizations had been of an abstract nature, moral and intellectual rather than applied; and their lack of public spirit made their excellent private qualities futile. They were fortunate in their epoch: Europe had fallen barbarous; and the memory of Greek and Latin learning was fading from men's minds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. E. 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