--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is…" description: "\"“Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is what it is. For four thousand years its waters have not gone dry or its fertility failed. Now we can understand ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg" --- # Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is what it is. For four… ![“Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is what it is. For four thousand years its waters have not gone dry or its fertility failed. Now we can understand why the city has existed so long. It could not die. So long as its waters remain to it away out there in the midst of that howling desert, so long…” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg) > ““Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is what it is. For four thousand years its waters have not gone dry or its fertility failed. Now we can understand why the city has existed so long. It could not die. So long as its waters remain to it away out there in the midst of that howling desert, so long will Damascus live to bless the sight of the tired and thirsty wayfarer. "Though old as history itself, thou art fresh as the breath of spring, blooming as thine own orange flower, O Damascus, the pearl of the East!".”” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Damascus endures like an oasis, its perpetual water symbolizing resilience and hope for the weary traveler. **In simple terms:** Enduring places give hope. Key Takeaway Find sources of lasting renewal. Themes resilience hope endurance Mood inspirational reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel hardships - personal setbacks - community building - environmental stewardship Key Concepts symbolism geography spiritual metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What “oasis” sustains you? - How can you nurture resilience in others? A Different Perspective Romanticizing endurance can overlook real challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Damascus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damascus/) [Damascus Pearl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damascus-pearl-2644060/) [Damascus Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damascus-simply-2644062/) [Flower Damascus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower-damascus-2644061/) [Long Damascus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-damascus-2644059/) [Thou art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thou-art/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [“We shall remember … Damascus, the "Pearl of the East", the pride of Syria, the fabled garden of Eden, the home of princes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-shall-remember-damascus-the-pearl-of-the-east-the-pride-of-syria/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The inscription of King Mar'alqais , found south of Damascus and dated at 328 CE, is usually said to be the first document in Arabic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-s-enz-badillos/the-inscription-of-king-mar-alqais-found-south-of-damascus-and-dated/) [Angel Sáenz-Badillos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-s-enz-badillos/) > [And it's true, you hear things in Damascus and, after a few hours, the human double-take stops operating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/and-it-s-true-you-hear-things-in-damascus-and-after-a-few-hours-the/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [For me, a journey to Damascus is an amazing hunt from beginning to end, a slice through layers of history in search of treasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/for-me-a-journey-to-damascus-is-an-amazing-hunt-from-beginning-to-end/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [“Rolf Ekeus came round to my apartment one day and showed me the name of the Iraqi diplomat who had visited the little West…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/rolf-ekeus-came-round-to-my-apartment-one-day-and-showed-me-the-name/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Attempts to locate oneself within history are as natural, and as absurd, as attempts to locate oneself within astronomy. On the day that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/attempts-to-locate-oneself-within-history-are-as-natural-and-as/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [In one way, I fear all Damascus is a dungeon. Or do you have to live here to appreciate that?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/in-one-way-i-fear-all-damascus-is-a-dungeon-or-do-you-have-to-live/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [True, when you behold Damascus from the Salahiyeh, the last slope of the Anti-Lebanon, it is the realization of all that you have dreamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/true-when-you-behold-damascus-from-the-salahiyeh-the-last-slope-of/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [Damascus was the seat of the Ummayad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/damascus-was-the-seat-of-the-ummayad-caliphate-in-the-7th-and-8th/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [“So I close this long reflection on what I hope is a not-too-quaveringly semi-Semitic note. When I am at home, I will only enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/so-i-close-this-long-reflection-on-what-i-hope-is-a-not-too/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“despite having a thriving gay prostitution scene, Damascus is unlike just about every other Middle Eastern city I have visited in not having any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/despite-having-a-thriving-gay-prostitution-scene-damascus-is-unlike/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [Although Damascus is considered the oldest city in the world, the date of its foundation going beyond tradition, there are very few relics of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/although-damascus-is-considered-the-oldest-city-in-the-world-the-date/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [I went with my love all over Damascus, he said. The memory is tied to the place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/new-york-times/i-went-with-my-love-all-over-damascus-he-said-the-memory-is-tied-to/) [New York Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/new-york-times/) > [Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favour us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/since-o-sweet-lord-jesus-thou-art-the-present-portion-of-thy-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Spade! Thou art a tool of honor in my hands. I press thee, through a yielding soil, with pride.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/spade-thou-art-a-tool-of-honor-in-my-hands-i-press-thee-through-a/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Damascus quotes > [I went with my love all over Damascus, he said. The memory is tied to the place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/new-york-times/i-went-with-my-love-all-over-damascus-he-said-the-memory-is-tied-to/) [New York Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/new-york-times/) > [Although Damascus is considered the oldest city in the world, the date of its foundation going beyond tradition, there are very few relics of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/although-damascus-is-considered-the-oldest-city-in-the-world-the-date/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [“despite having a thriving gay prostitution scene, Damascus is unlike just about every other Middle Eastern city I have visited in not having any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/despite-having-a-thriving-gay-prostitution-scene-damascus-is-unlike/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“We shall remember … Damascus, the "Pearl of the East", the pride of Syria, the fabled garden of Eden, the home of princes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-shall-remember-damascus-the-pearl-of-the-east-the-pride-of-syria/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“So I close this long reflection on what I hope is a not-too-quaveringly semi-Semitic note. When I am at home, I will only enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/so-i-close-this-long-reflection-on-what-i-hope-is-a-not-too/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Damascus was the seat of the Ummayad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/damascus-was-the-seat-of-the-ummayad-caliphate-in-the-7th-and-8th/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [True, when you behold Damascus from the Salahiyeh, the last slope of the Anti-Lebanon, it is the realization of all that you have dreamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/true-when-you-behold-damascus-from-the-salahiyeh-the-last-slope-of/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [In one way, I fear all Damascus is a dungeon. Or do you have to live here to appreciate that?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/in-one-way-i-fear-all-damascus-is-a-dungeon-or-do-you-have-to-live/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [“Attempts to locate oneself within history are as natural, and as absurd, as attempts to locate oneself within astronomy. On the day that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/attempts-to-locate-oneself-within-history-are-as-natural-and-as/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Rolf Ekeus came round to my apartment one day and showed me the name of the Iraqi diplomat who had visited the little West…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/rolf-ekeus-came-round-to-my-apartment-one-day-and-showed-me-the-name/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [For me, a journey to Damascus is an amazing hunt from beginning to end, a slice through layers of history in search of treasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/for-me-a-journey-to-damascus-is-an-amazing-hunt-from-beginning-to-end/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [And it's true, you hear things in Damascus and, after a few hours, the human double-take stops operating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/and-it-s-true-you-hear-things-in-damascus-and-after-a-few-hours-the/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [“The inscription of King Mar'alqais , found south of Damascus and dated at 328 CE, is usually said to be the first document in Arabic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-s-enz-badillos/the-inscription-of-king-mar-alqais-found-south-of-damascus-and-dated/) [Angel Sáenz-Badillos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-s-enz-badillos/) [Browse all 14 Damascus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damascus/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is what it is. For four thousand years its waters have not gone dry or its fertility failed. Now we can understand why the city has existed so long. It could not die. So long as its waters remain to it away out there in the midst of that howling desert, so long will Damascus live to bless the sight of the tired and thirsty wayfarer. \"Though old as history itself, thou art fresh as the breath of spring, blooming as thine own orange flower, O Damascus, the pearl of the East!\".”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what-it-is-for-four-thousand/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Damascus" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what-it-is-for-four-thousand/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85e/mark-twain-22_damascus_damascus-is-simply-an-oasis-that-is-what_2689247.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Damascus, is simply an oasis, that is what it is. 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