Lawrence of Arabia Quotes
T.E. Lawrence: We do not work this thing for Feisal. Auda abu Tayi: No? For the English, then?
T.E. Lawrence: For the Arabs. Auda abu
Tayi: The Arabs? The Howitat, Ajili, Rala, Beni Saha; these I know, I have even heard of the Harif, but the Arabs? What tribe is that?
T.E. Lawrence: Look, Ali. If any of your Beduin arrived in Cairo and said Sherif Ali: I see. In Cairo you will put off these funny clothes. You'll wear trousers and tell stories of our quaintness and barbarity and then they will believe you. T.E. Lawrence: You're an ignorant man.
Prince Feisal: To be great again, it seems that we need the english... or... T.E. Lawrence: Or? Prince Feisal: What no man can provide, Mr. Lawrence. We need a miracle.
General Murray: I may as well tell you, it's my considered opinion and that of my staff that any time spent on the Bedouin will be time wasted.They're a nation of sheep-stealers. Mr. Dryden: They did attack Medina. General Murray: And the Turks made mincemeat of them. Mr. Dryden: We don't know that. General Murray: We know that they didn't take it. A storm in a teacup, a sideshow. If you want my own opinion, this whole theatre of operations is a sideshow. The real war's being fought against Germans, not Turks. And not here, but on the Western front in the trenches. Your Bedouin Army, or whatever it calls itself would be a sideshow of a sideshow. Mr. Dryden: Big things have small beginnings, sir.
Sherif Ali: God help the men that lie under that. T.E. Lawrence: They are Turks. Sherif Ali: God help them.
T.E. Lawrence: I'm to "assess the situation". Colonel Brighton: Hmph! Well that won't be too difficult. The situation's bloody awful.
[leafing through Lawrence's dossier] Undisciplined... unpunctual... untidy. Knowledge of music... knowledge of literature... knowledge of... knowledge of... you're an interesting man there's no doubt about it.
General Allenby
Colonel Brighton: He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew. Vicar at St. Paul's: Did you know him well? Colonel Brighton: I knew him. Vicar at St. Paul's: Well nil nisi bonum. But did he really deserve a place here?
[his last words, to Ali] Being an Arab will be thornier than you suppose, Harith!
Auda abu Tayi
General Allenby: I believe your name will be a household word when you'll have to go to the War Museum to find who Allenby was. You're the most extraordinary man I've ever met! T.E. Lawrence: Leave me alone! General Allenby: What? T.E. Lawrence: Leave me alone! General Allenby: Well, that's a feeble thing to say. T.E. Lawrence: I know I'm not ordinary. General Allenby: That's not what I'm saying... T.E. Lawrence: All right! I'm extraordinary! What of it?
Sherif Ali: What are you looking for? T.E. Lawrence: Some way to announce myself. Sherif Ali: Be patient with him, God.
There may be honor among thieves, but there's none in politicians.
T.E. Lawrence
