--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You have to decide where the line is in…" description: "\"You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated place like Saudi Arabia. I was so confused by the place - there's no simple story. It's a pl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/deb/olivia-arthur-57979_complicated_you-have-to-decide-where-the-line-is-in_55215.jpg" --- # You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated… ![“You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated place like Saudi Arabia. I was so confused by the place - there's no simple story. It's a place that is really sensitive to how it is judged, particularly by people from the West. So in the end I thought: I'm just going to take the reader…” quote by Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/deb/olivia-arthur-57979_complicated_you-have-to-decide-where-the-line-is-in_55215.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/deb/olivia-arthur-57979_complicated_you-have-to-decide-where-the-line-is-in_55215.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/deb/olivia-arthur-57979_complicated_you-have-to-decide-where-the-line-is-in_55215.jpg) > “You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated place like Saudi Arabia. I was so confused by the place - there's no simple story. It's a place that is really sensitive to how it is judged, particularly by people from the West. So in the end I thought: I'm just going to take the reader on my journey to try and understand this odd place.” [Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author reflects on the difficulty of defining moral or cultural boundaries in a complex society, acknowledging personal confusion and the need to guide readers through a nuanced exploration rather than imposing a simplistic narrative. **In simple terms:** Navigating cultural complexity without oversimplification. Key Takeaway Guide readers through nuanced understanding. Themes cultural complexity subjectivity perspective sensitivity Western bias Mood thoughtful curious cautious Type reflective exploratory When to use this quote - travel writing - cross‑cultural analysis - journalistic reporting - educational curricula Key Concepts cultural relativism interpretive journey authorial responsibility Practical Applications - cultural‑sensitivity training - policy briefings Questions to Reflect On - How does personal bias shape our perception of foreign societies? - What methods help convey complexity without reducing it to stereotypes? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [We have to review our foreign policy and stop rolling out the red carpet for countries we know to be funding fundamentalism: countries like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-have-to-review-our-foreign-policy-and-stop-rolling-out-the-red/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [Americans want to democratise us. OK, but why not go and democratise Saudi Arabia. Are we anything like Saudi Arabia? No, we are far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/americans-want-to-democratise-us-ok-but-why-not-go-and-democratise/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [If someone doesn't like Saudi Arabia's human rights record, that doesn't mean that you are in any way attacking Muslims. You're attacking a government's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/if-someone-doesn-t-like-saudi-arabia-s-human-rights-record-that-doesn/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [When I talk about places like Saudi Arabia or Israel or even now with Venezuela, I'm not criticizing the people. I'm not criticizing their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilhan-omar/when-i-talk-about-places-like-saudi-arabia-or-israel-or-even-now-with/) [Ilhan Omar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilhan-omar/) > [So in a sense, that little war in the Levant had a horrendous effect in terms of the stability of countries like Saudi Arabia,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scheuer/so-in-a-sense-that-little-war-in-the-levant-had-a-horrendous-effect/) [Michael Scheuer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scheuer/) > [We hear about the successful "Texanisation" of the Republican party. And doesn't Texas sometimes seem to resemble a country like Saudi Arabia, with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/we-hear-about-the-successful-texanisation-of-the-republican-party-and/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I feel like 2013 was one giant snowball of me being confused with my place in life and within the group. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirstin-maldonado/i-feel-like-2013-was-one-giant-snowball-of-me-being-confused-with-my/) [Kirstin Maldonado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirstin-maldonado/) > [For a child that feels lost, confused and out of place, they need help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/for-a-child-that-feels-lost-confused-and-out-of-place-they-need-help/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) > [In some countries that are darlings of the West, like Egypt, everyone knows the result of national elections years in advance: The man in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/in-some-countries-that-are-darlings-of-the-west-like-egypt-everyone/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [The world is a very complicated place, as babies know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mumford/the-world-is-a-very-complicated-place-as-babies-know/) [David Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mumford/) > [A civilization is complicated, in the first place, because it is dynamic; that is, it is constantly changing in the passage of time, until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-quigley/a-civilization-is-complicated-in-the-first-place-because-it-is/) [Carroll Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-quigley/) > [Pluto has a very interesting history, and there is a lot of work that we need to do to understand this very complicated place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-stern/pluto-has-a-very-interesting-history-and-there-is-a-lot-of-work-that/) [Alan Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-stern/) > [All you really need to know for the moment is that the universe is a lot more complicated than you might think, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/all-you-really-need-to-know-for-the-moment-is-that-the-universe-is-a/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [In truth, the world is a complicated place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-hawke/in-truth-the-world-is-a-complicated-place/) [Ethan Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-hawke/) > [The world is a complicated place, and there's a lot of division between people. The performing arts tend to unify people in a way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rubenstein/the-world-is-a-complicated-place-and-there-s-a-lot-of-division/) [David Rubenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rubenstein/) ## More by Olivia Arthur > [When I first asked to take pictures of women at their homes, I was using my formal camera and I struggled to get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-arthur/when-i-first-asked-to-take-pictures-of-women-at-their-homes-i-was/) [Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) > [Photojournalism is photography with more story telling. A single image can be amazing and dramatic. I started out shooting individual images, but I found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-arthur/photojournalism-is-photography-with-more-story-telling-a-single-image/) [Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) > [At the beginning of my career, a more senior photographer told me to shoot stories on women and I didn't want to. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-arthur/at-the-beginning-of-my-career-a-more-senior-photographer-told-me-to/) [Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) > [Saudi Arabia is so conservative. At first there were photographs of women I took that I couldn't publish - of women without their abayas.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-arthur/saudi-arabia-is-so-conservative-at-first-there-were-photographs-of/) [Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) > [Photography is about being patient. I'm quiet, I watch the situation. I let things happen and photograph them when they happen; that's my approach,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-arthur/photography-is-about-being-patient-i-m-quiet-i-watch-the-situation-i/) [Olivia Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) [Explore all 6 Olivia Arthur quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-arthur/) ## More Complicated quotes > [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/) Marlin > [“Why the hell did he have to be so complicated? One minute he was charming, the next he withdrew behind his internal walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-davis/why-the-hell-did-he-have-to-be-so-complicated-one-minute-he-was/) [Lia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-davis/) > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [“Just because it's complicated, just because you think you can't ever know everything about another person, it doesn't mean you can't try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/just-because-it-s-complicated-just-because-you-think-you-can-t-ever/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [The one thing I absolutely hate about social media are the people who abuse it. Whenever I see a person who constantly posts negative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmin-garcia/the-one-thing-i-absolutely-hate-about-social-media-are-the-people-who/) [Jazmin Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmin-garcia/) > [I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [Your Starbucks order is directly proportional to how complicated your personality is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin/your-starbucks-order-is-directly-proportional-to-how-complicated-your/) [Kevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I have learned so much from my dad. Perhaps the biggest thing I've learned from my dad is how to be prepared at all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sekulow/i-have-learned-so-much-from-my-dad-perhaps-the-biggest-thing-i-ve/) [Jay Sekulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sekulow/) > [The world is complicated and full of grays, but there's still truth there to be found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-world-is-complicated-and-full-of-grays-but-there-s-still-truth/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ The parts of the \[Civil Right\] Movement we recognize so well now were not born from a single decision, but were a complicated and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-aydin/the-parts-of-the-civil-right-movement-we-recognize-so-well-now-were/) [Andrew Aydin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-aydin/) > [Two people could build an outhouse in four hours. They're not complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-maxwell/two-people-could-build-an-outhouse-in-four-hours-they-re-not/) [Robert Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-maxwell/) Browse all 3,190 Complicated quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated place like Saudi Arabia. I was so confused by the place - there's no simple story. It's a place that is really sensitive to how it is judged, particularly by people from the West. 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