T.E. Lawrence Quotes

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. – T.E. Lawrence

I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars. – T.E. Lawrence

The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes. – T.E. Lawrence

Some of the evil of my tale may have been inherent in our circumstances. – T.E. Lawrence

Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals. – T.E. Lawrence

Immorality, I know. Immortality, I cannot judge. – T.E. Lawrence

It is only through detachment that the traveller sees land and lovers as they truly are. – T.E. Lawrence

The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armory of the modern commander. – T.E. Lawrence

Racism is an ugly thing, but it runs deep in the human soul. – T.E. Lawrence

Is cruelty self-disfiguring? No. – T.E. Lawrence

I am not your threat. – T.E. Lawrence

No one is justified in doing evil on the grounds of expediency. – T.E. Lawrence

If I know anything at all, it is that we do not live in a physical world. – T.E. Lawrence

Sleep. Those little slices of death. How I loathe them. – T.E. Lawrence

The world is a dangerous place, only one in 10,000 may be justified in doing harm on the grounds of expediency, but all must keep together. – T.E. Lawrence

To subdue your enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. – T.E. Lawrence

Every man carries within him the eternal war, of good and evil, morality and immorality. – T.E. Lawrence

We live in a world of rumors, and it is not our fault. The fault is not in arms but in the lack of faith. – T.E. Lawrence

The moneylender and the bureaucrat take away from men’s happiness, and yet I find them. If I were anything but an Arab I would not be in this meeting. – T.E. Lawrence

I may not be victorious, but I will make them pay for every inch of ground they take. – T.E. Lawrence

It doesn’t matter what you do in this world, everyone has enemies. – T.E. Lawrence

War is a matter of will. – T.E. Lawrence

I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence, something throbs, and gleams… – T.E. Lawrence

The Arabs could win if the Turks were to lose. – T.E. Lawrence

I am going up river to darkness, and there I am going to stay. – T.E. Lawrence

The weapon in our hand is ideas. – T.E. Lawrence

The world does not like to be reminded of its faults, and the guilt it carries in its conscience is not a thing of which it can easily rid itself. – T.E. Lawrence

The devil can be as good a god as God, and I wish you luck to keep clear of them. – T.E. Lawrence

All politics are but a combination of expedience and virtue and vice can’t be practiced for long. – T.E. Lawrence

I will not waste hours in answering a fool, when the truth with a slight rearrangement of his errors can so easily set him up as a target for public instruction. – T.E. Lawrence

Without individuals we see only numbers: a thousand dead, a hundred thousand dead, ‘casualties may mount up to a million. With individual men the pain is for them alone to suffer. – T.E. Lawrence

The truth is what’s left, when you’ve taken away all the lies. – T.E. Lawrence

It’s better to have a weapon in your hand than a man behind you. – T.E. Lawrence

I am not fearful of physical pain. – T.E. Lawrence

It is not the number of our instruments of warfare but their efficiency that counts. – T.E. Lawrence

War shows us what an ugly thing humanity can be. – T.E. Lawrence

Martyrdom, sir, is what these people like; it is the only way in which a man can become famous without ability. – T.E. Lawrence

To me an Arab is more prepossessing than a Jew. – T.E. Lawrence

The temptation of the age is to look good without being good. – T.E. Lawrence

There’s no other kingdom except for the one that lies within you. – T.E. Lawrence

A little water clears us of this deed. – T.E. Lawrence

I served the prime minister. – T.E. Lawrence

Nobody suffers but the families left behind, buried in the ruins. – T.E. Lawrence

I would pay all my debts, if I could get out of this mud. – T.E. Lawrence

War is a beast that feeds on fear and hunger; it is not to be loved or adored, as some would have us believe. It is a destroyer, not a creator, and it does not deserve our allegiance. – T.E. Lawrence