--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Suppose we were (as we might be) an…" description: "\"Suppose we were (as we might be) an influence, an idea, a thing intangible, invulnerable, without front or back, drifting about like a gas? Armies were..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/t-e-lawrence-10943_army_suppose-we-were-as-we-might-be-an-influe_2024632.png" --- # Suppose we were (as we might be) an influence, an idea, a… ![“Suppose we were (as we might be) an influence, an idea, a thing intangible, invulnerable, without front or back, drifting about like a gas? Armies were like plants, immobile, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. We might be a vapour, blowing where we listed Ours should be a war…” quote by T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/t-e-lawrence-10943_army_suppose-we-were-as-we-might-be-an-influe_2024632.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/t-e-lawrence-10943_army_suppose-we-were-as-we-might-be-an-influe_2024632.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a31/t-e-lawrence-10943_army_suppose-we-were-as-we-might-be-an-influe_2024632.png) > “Suppose we were (as we might be) an influence, an idea, a thing intangible, invulnerable, without front or back, drifting about like a gas? Armies were like plants, immobile, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. We might be a vapour, blowing where we listed Ours should be a war of detachment. We were to contain the enemy by the silent threat of a vast, unknown desert” [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) ## 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 imagines warfare as intangible, fluid, and detached, contrasting with rigid, rooted armies. **In simple terms:** War can be like a vapor, moving unseen, unlike static forces. Key Takeaway Embrace flexibility and indirect tactics. Themes war strategy fluidity Mood reflective philosophical Type literary historical When to use this quote - guerrilla warfare - information campaigns - political dissent - social movements Key Concepts asymmetric warfare psychological operations Questions to Reflect On - Can a war of detachment achieve decisive results? - How to balance fluid tactics with clear goals? A Different Perspective Such detachment may lack concrete objectives, risking aimlessness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Armies Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armies-like-3685439/) [Army](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/army/) [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Detachment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detachment/) [Detachment Contain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detachment-contain-3685440/) [Drifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drifting/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Firm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firm/) [Fronts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fronts/) [Gas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gas/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Intangible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intangible/) [Like Gas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-gas-1451262/) [Like Plants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-plants-892623/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Rooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooted/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silent/) [Stem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stem/) [Threat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat/) [Vapour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vapour/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Life is like gas you got to keep full and happy because when you ran out of gas you cant do anythin therefore when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pidak/life-is-like-gas-you-got-to-keep-full-and-happy-because-when-you-ran/) [Pidak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pidak/) > [Death comes along like a gas bill one can't payand that's all one can sayabout it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-payand-that-s-all-one-can/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Lisa! Her teeth are big and green. Lisa, she smells like gas-o-line. Lisa, da da da disa. On her birthday, I miss ya.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bart-simpson/lisa-her-teeth-are-big-and-green-lisa-she-smells-like-gas-o-line-lisa/) [Bart Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bart-simpson/) > [Despair ... is like a gas, odourless, tasteless, without nourishment. You breathe it in, your limbs relax, you cease to care, even at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/despair-is-like-a-gas-odourless-tasteless-without-nourishment-you/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [It's like gas for a Corvette, I can only do premium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-j-hernandez-drg/it-s-like-gas-for-a-corvette-i-can-only-do-premium/) [Felix J Hernandez - DRG](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-j-hernandez-drg/) > [“Go on, you've claimed your thirty pieces of silver, go do something crazy like put gas in that penis replacement you call transportation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-harper/go-on-you-ve-claimed-your-thirty-pieces-of-silver-go-do-something/) [Molly Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-harper/) > [Goals are like the gas in your car, you may go in many different directions after you fill up, but with out the gas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-wynn/goals-are-like-the-gas-in-your-car-you-may-go-in-many-different/) [Garrison Wynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-wynn/) > [Column writing is like gas - it fills the available space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/column-writing-is-like-gas-it-fills-the-available-space/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-pay/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“If he ever frosted his hair blue, he’d look like a gas burner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/if-he-ever-frosted-his-hair-blue-he-d-look-like-a-gas-burner/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [We are like plants which have the one choice of being in or out of the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/we-are-like-plants-which-have-the-one-choice-of-being-in-or-out-of/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Most men, like plants, possess hidden qualities which chance discovers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/most-men-like-plants-possess-hidden-qualities-which-chance-discovers/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Folks are like plants; we all lean toward the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-carr/folks-are-like-plants-we-all-lean-toward-the-light/) [Kris Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-carr/) > [The generality of men have, like plants, latent properties, which chance brings to light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-generality-of-men-have-like-plants-latent-properties-which-chance/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [We are made for loving. If we dont love, we will be like plants without water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/we-are-made-for-loving-if-we-dont-love-we-will-be-like-plants-without/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) ## 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/) [Explore all 62 T. E. Lawrence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) ## More Army quotes > [There are no more worlds to conquer!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/there-are-no-more-worlds-to-conquer/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... 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Prescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-prescott/) > [Thanks to all members of the military around the world for giving me the ultimate motivation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalya-neidhart/thanks-to-all-members-of-the-military-around-the-world-for-giving-me/) [Natalya Neidhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalya-neidhart/) [Browse all 3,919 Army quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/army/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Suppose we were (as we might be) an influence, an idea, a thing intangible, invulnerable, without front or back, drifting about like a gas? Armies were like plants, immobile, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. We might be a vapour, blowing where we listed Ours should be a war of detachment. We were to contain the enemy by the silent threat of a vast, unknown desert", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. E. 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