"There is always trouble if meat is not divided by lot. Someone immediately says that he has been given more than his share, and tries to hand a piece to someone else. Then there is much arguing and swearing by God, with everyone insisting that he has been given too much, and finally a deadlock ensues which can only be settled by casting lots for the meat – as should have been done in the first place. I have never heard a man grumble that he has received less than his share. Such behaviour would be inconceivable to the Bedu, for they are careful never to appear greedy, and quick to notice anyone who is."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 71.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilfred_Thesiger
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Wilfred Thesiger
Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger KBE, DSO, FRAS, FRSL, FRGS (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also called Mubarak bin London (Arabic for "the blessed one of London") was an English explorer and travel writer.
68 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Wilfred Thesiger →
Related Quotes
"They strolled with me through the streets hand in hand, as is usual with Arab friends, but I was lightly uncomfortabl…"
"…I had learnt that the most effective way to spread a story was to tell it to one or two Arabs under a pledge of secr…"
"To me it is always the people rather than the places that matter."
"This incident impressed upon me the Bedu’s indifference to human life. The man was sick and if God ordered it he woul…"
"In the deserts, however arid, I have never felt homesick for green fields and woods in spring, but now that I was in …"
"As I listened I thought once again how precarious was the existence of the Bedu. Their way of life naturally made the…"
"For untold centuries the Bedu lived in the desert; they lived there from choice.... All of them would have scorned th…"
"It is characteristic of Bedu to do things by extremes, to be either wildly generous or unbelievably mean, very patien…"
"These [RAF] airmen were my fellow countrymen, and I was proud to be of their race. I knew the essential decency which…"
"I could now move without effort from one world to the other as easily as I could change my clothes, but I appreciated…"