It is not badness, it is the absence of goodness, which, in Art as in Life, is so depressing.

The perpetual charm of Arabia is that the traveler finds his level there simply as a human being; the people's directness, deadly to the sentimental or pedantic, likes the less complicated virtues.

The art of learning fundamental common values is perhaps the greatest gain of travel to those who wish to live at ease among their fellows.

the main necessity on both sides of a revolution is kindness, which makes possible the most surprising things. To treat one's neighbor as oneself is the fundamental maxim for revolution.

I have met charming people, lots who 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 the Arabs.

One has to resign oneself to being a nuisance if one wants to get anything done.

Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other.