"Men have looked upon the desert as barren land, the free holding of whoever chose; but in fact each hill and valley in it had a man who was its acknowledged owner and would quickly assert the right of his family or clan to it, against aggression. Even the wells and trees had their masters, who allowed men to make firewood of the one and drink of the other freely, as much as was required for their need, but who would instantly check anyone trying to turn the property to account and to exploit it or its products among others for private benefit. The desert was held in a crazed communism by which Nature and the elements were for the free use of every known friendly person for his own purposes and no more. Logical outcomes were the reduction of this licence to privilege by the men of the desert, and their hardness to strangers unprovided with introduction or guarantee, since the common security lay in the common responsibility of kinsmen."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Authors from WalesAviatorsMilitary leaders from WalesArchaeologists from WalesTranslators from Wales
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ch. 11
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence [T. E. Lawrence] (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer known for his role in the Arab Revolt and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Commonly referred to as Lawrence of Arabia, he adopted T. E. Shaw as a pseudonym.
46 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by T. E. Lawrence →
Related Quotes
"Whether they are fit for independence or not remains to be tried. Merit is no qualification for freedom. Bulgars, Afg…"
"This death’s livery which walled its bearers from ordinary life was sign that they have sold their wills and bodies t…"
"The sword was odd. The Arab Movement was one: Feisal another (his name means a flashing sword): then there is the exc…"
"All the revision in the world will not save a bad first draft: for the architecture of the thing comes, or fails to c…"
"To have news value is to have a tin can tied to one’s tail."
"You wonder what I am doing? Well, so do I, in truth. Days seem to dawn, suns to shine, evenings to follow, and then I…"
"I've been & am absurdly over-estimated. There are no supermen & I'm quite ordinary, & will say so whatever the artist…"
"Isn't it true that the fault of birth rests somewhat on the child? I believe it's we who led our parents on to bear u…"
"... wait and watch with the deepest interest the development of the Jewish National Home. If Jews succeeded in transl…"
"The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and …"