Arab Quotes

I have met charming people, lots of whom would be charming if they hadn’t got a complex about the British and everyone has pleasant and cheerful manners, and I like most of the American voices. On the other hand I don’t believe they have any God and their hats are frightful. On balance I prefer […]

So before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world. And all of us against the infidel.

I’m the Sheik of Araby, Your love belongs to me. At night when you’re asleep Into your tent I’ll creep.

Since theological propositions are scientifically meaningless, those of us of pragmatic disposition simply won’t buy such dubious merchandise… Maybe – remotely – there might be something in such promotions, as there might be something in the talking dogs and the stocks in Arabian tapioca mines that W. C. Fields once sold in his comedies, but […]

Let me get this straight, we are going to war to defend people who won’t let women drive?

Iran announced today that if their demands for the release of the hostages are not met, they will cut off our supply of surly convenience store operators.

Islam is in its origins an Arab religion. Everyone not an Arab who is a Muslim is a convert. Islam is not simply a matter of conscience or private belief. It makes imperial demands. A convert’s worldview alters. His holy places are in Arab lands; his sacred language is Arabic. His idea of history alters. […]

The Badoies (Bedouin) are wild men, amongst whom is no civill societie, no truth or civilitie used: They worship Mahomet, and are very bad Moores, above all other People they are given to Stealths and Rapine; they eate raw flesh, and drinke milke; their habit is vile and filthy, they are greatly endued with swiftnesse […]

I used to wish the Arabian Tales were true: my imagination ran on unknown influences, on magical powers, and talismans.

What above all distinguishes the Arabs from the peoples of the New World is that through the roughness of the former one can still see something of delicacy in their manners and customs: one feels that they were born in this East from which came all the arts, all the sciences, all the religions… In […]