Thought y'all might enjoy a couple quotations I posted
here on Arab culture from T.E. Lawence's
Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Perhaps it's already been discussed. I only just started the book, so these are from the first pages. Probably a thousand gems to come. Lawrence seems to have understood the Arabs like de Tocqueville understood the Americans. Amazing insight.
My sister read Lawrence's books right after 9/11, and she was struck by both his disdain for the Arab and the difference in perception of events between the Arab world and the West.