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Beirut Quotes

Browse 56 quotes about Beirut.

Beirut Quotes

“Grief is shameless; it refuses to be ignored. If you let it have its way, it becomes fatal. If you try to remove it piece by piece, it only multiplies like a tumor. And if you try to fight it, it becomes like quicksand; you try to claw your way back to the surface, and for a second you feel the fresh air against your face, thinking you've survived, only to be pulled fiercely back down again, swallowed whole, nothing left.”

LifePainDeathMotherSufferingGriefMissingMotherhoodMissing SomeoneLebanonAccidentBeirutArabMiddle Eastern
Book:Crossing
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“I don't think I ever fully understood before now the old saying that goes: "A mother's heart loves her young one until he grows; her ill one until he heals; and her traveler until he returns." I have experienced all kinds of waiting; I've waited for my young to grow and the sick to heal, but I am still waiting on my little traveler and I do not know how long it will be until I see him again.”

LoveLifePainDeathMotherSufferingMissingMotherhoodMissing SomeoneLebanonAccidentBeirutArabMiddle Eastern
Book:Crossing
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“Jenny Marzen made millions of dollars, as opposed to nickels, by writing novels that got seriously reviewed while selling big. Amy had skimmed her first one, a mildly clever thing about a philosophy professor who discovers her husband is cheating on her with one of her grad students, and who, while feigning ignorance of the affair, drives the girl mad with increasingly brutal critiques and research tasks, at one point banishing her to Beirut, first to learn fluent Arabic and then to read Avicenna's Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb, housed in the American University. This was, Amy thought, a showoffy detail that hinted at Marzen's impressive erudition but was probably arrived at within five Googling minutes.”

WritersAffairsArabicBeirutGrad StudentAvicennaAmerican University
Book:Amy Falls Down
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“If Beirut was the supermarket of the left in the 1970s, where Marxists, communists, Egyptians, Iraqis, and all the Palestinian factions debated and theorized, published and drank in bars arguing over ideas and the fought in the streets, Peshawar was the supermarket of the Islamists in the 1980s without drinking: there the discussions were about Islamic law, fatwas, the war of the believers, the unity of the Muslim nation, and the humanitarian needs of Afghan refugees.”

IsisAl QaedaAfghanBeirutIslamistPeshawar
Book:Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East
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“Outside events can change a presidential campaign, a president, and the history of the nation: the Iranian hostage crisis, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the downing of the helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia, the suicide attack on the USS Cole, and, of course, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

CoursesNationsPresidentEventsCrisisSuicideCampaignsTerroristPresidentialMarineBombingIranianHostageTerrorist AttacksHelicoptersPresidential CampaignSomaliaSept 11BeirutDowningHostage CrisisMogadishu
Author:Mark McKinnon
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“I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism. I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time.”

NeedsLongJobsFacesStrongNationsChallengesIssuesSecurityInvolvedPeriodsTrainingAppreciateCrisisPreparedRadicalIslamicGovernorsNational SecurityExtremismMayorsChallenges We FaceBeirutLong RelationshipJob Training
Author:John McCain
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“There is a single theme behind all our work-we must reduce population levels. Either governments do it our way, through nice clean methods, or they will get the kinds of mess that we have in El Salvador, or in Iran or in Beirut. Population is a political problem. Once population is out of control, it requires authoritarian government, even fascism, to reduce it.”

WayKindProblemGovernmentPoliticalLevelsBehindsNiceMethodCleanPopulationMessThemeIranFascismElitesReducingPopulation ControlBeirutEl SalvadorDepopulationAgenda 21Controlling GovernmentAuthoritarian GovernmentPopulation Problem
Author:Thomas Ferguson
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“Many of Islam's apologists insist that suicide bombing is not Islamic because the Koran forbids suicide. Mmm-hmm. So where are all the Muslims gathering in mass demonstrations to vehemently condemn this practice that slanders their religion? Why does contemporary Islam promote 'martyrdom' as the highest duty of Muslims? Why are photographs of suicide bombers plastered everywhere in Beirut? Because Islam is what Islam does.”

DoePracticeDutyHighestMassSuicideIslamPhotographContemporaryIslamicGatheringDemonstrationSlanderBombingMartyrdomBombersHmmSuicide BombersBeirut
Author:Jamie Glazov
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“People in the United States don't like to hear it, but puritanical Islam has been on the rise because of our unequivocal policy of absolute support for Israel, regardless of what Israel does - even if they invade Lebanon and bombard a major city like Beirut, full of civilians. Israel has atomic bombs, but we go nuts if any Arab country or Iran develops even nuclear capabilities.”

PeopleIfsDoeHas BeensCountryStatesUnitedCitiesUnited StatesSupportPolicyMajorsAbsolutesIslamIsraelNuclearBombsIranNutsCapabilityCiviliansAtomic BombLebanonBeirutUnequivocal
Author:Khaled Abou El Fadl
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“My memories of Kabul are vastly different than the way it is when I go there now. My memories are of the final years before everything changed. When I grew up in Kabul, it couldn't be mistaken for Beirut or Tehran, as it was still in a country that's essentially religious and conservative, but it was suprisingly progressive and liberal.”

WayYearsStillsDifferentCountryReligiousMemoriesChangedGrewGrew UpFinalsConservativeProgressiveMistakenTehranBeirutKabul
Author:Khaled Hosseini
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“For my generation - the "Children of Nixon," as I call us in the book - the Lebanese civil war was an iconic event. Downtown Beirut became a metaphor for so many things: man's inhumanity to man, what Charles Bukowski called "the impossibility of being human." It shaped our perceptions of war and human nature, just as Vietnam did for our parents. We used it to understand how the world works.”

MenWorldHumansChildrenBookWarUsedParentGenerationsEventsHuman NaturePerceptionMetaphorCivil WarVietnamBeing HumanImpossibilityMy GenerationIconicDowntownInhumanityBeirutLebaneseInhumanity To Man
Author:Annia Ciezadlo
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“For me, diversity is not a value. Diversity is what you find in Northern Ireland. Diversity is Beirut. Diversity is brother killing brother. Where diversity is shared - where I share with you my difference - that can be valuable. But the simple fact that we are unlike each other is a terrifying notion. I have often found myself in foreign settings where I became suddenly aware that I was not like the people around me. That, to me, is not a pleasant discovery.”

PeopleFactsValuesFoundDifferencesSimpleShareBrotherDiversityDiscoveryNotionKillingValuableSettingSettingsPleasantIrelandNorthern IrelandBeirut
Author:Richard Rodriguez
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“I'd spent thirty years visiting the Dalai Lama, and twenty years as a journalist going to difficult places, war zones and revolutions from North Korea to Haiti and Beirut to Sri Lanka, and the question came up: What does this man have to offer to this world which seems so torn up and so attached to conflict?”

MenWorldYearsDoeWarSeemsDifficultThis WorldRevolutionOffersConflictTwentiesJournalistThirtyZoneTornKoreaNorth KoreaVisitingThirty YearsHaitiLamaDalaiSri LankaWar ZonesBeirut
Author:Pico Iyer
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“I'd known the people at Rolling Stone for a while. I'd gone to them with a piece I'd done on Beirut for Vanity Fair that Vanity Fair didn't want to publish, because they said I was making fun of death... This was Tina Brown.But they paid me for it. So I've got this big chunk of a piece, and Rolling Stone liked it, but they thought it was a little dated. But then they called me back and asked me to do a similar piece about the Turks and Caicos Islands, where the whole government had been arrested for dope smuggling. That was fun.”

PeopleWantLittlesSaidDoneWholeBigsGovernmentFunKnownGonePiecesFairsStonesPaidVanityIslandsBrownRollingThey SaidPublishArrestedDopeRolling StonesChunksBeirutVanity FairSmuggling
Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”

IfsLifeCharacterTruthRememberLyingHonestyCommunicationIntegrityCleverBeing HonestDeceptionTelling The TruthDeceitCheatingTruthfulFunny InspirationalLiedMake You ThinkChakraTruth And LiesBeing TruthfulTrustworthinessHonest TruthNever LieTruth And HonestyHonesty IntegrityTruth HonestyDon't LieHonesty And IntegrityUltimate TruthTruth Be ToldMy TruthNo MemoryHonest And IntegrityLies TruthTelling LiesBeing LiedBeirutTrust And RespectProfound TruthSaying The TruthWhite LieI Don't LieLiving A LieHidden TruthLies And LiarsTrust HonestyFinding Out The TruthTrust And HonestyHiding The TruthIntellectual HonestyTruth And RealityHonesty InspirationalYou LiedGood LiarHonest RelationshipTruth And KnowledgeSaying The Same Thing Over And OverDon't Lie To MeUnknown Things
Book:Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review
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“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.”

HumansHappinessJoyBusinessRaceLaughingIntegrityWeaponsLaughterHuman RaceBullyingLaughedHappy LifeLaughter Is The Best MedicineIgnorance Is BlissHave A LaughSmile And LaughLaughs And SmilesSmile And LaughterBeirutLaughter And SmilesHumor And LaughterHumor LaughterHappy LaughterPower Of LaughterHappiness And LaughterSmile LaughInspirational LaughterGift Of LaughterLoud LaughterDamned Human Race
Book:Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend
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“As I searched the atlas for somewhere to run to, Hugh made a case for his old stomping grounds. His first suggestion was Beirut, where he went to nursery school. His family left there in the midsixties and moved to the Congo. After that, it was Ethiopia, and then Somalia, all fine places in his opinion. 'Let's save Africa and the Middle East for when I decide to quit living,' I said.”

FirstsMadeSaidRunningSchoolLeftOpinionCasesMiddleFineMovedEastQuittingMiddle EastSuggestionsCongoNurseryAtlasEthiopiaSomaliaBeirutStompingNursery School
Author:David Sedaris
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“When I arrived in Beirut from Europe, I felt the oppressive, damp heat, saw the unkempt palm trees and smelt the Arabic coffee, the fruit stalls and the over-spiced meat. It was the beginning of the Orient. And when I flew back to Beirut from Iran, I could pick up the British papers, ask for a gin and tonic at any bar, choose a French, Italian, or German restaurant for dinner. It was the beginning of the West. All things to all people, the Lebanese rarely questioned their own identity.”

PeopleAsksFeltSawsTreeIdentityPaperPicksEuropeAll ThingsWestFruitDinnerBritishCoffeeBarsMeatHeatRestaurantsIranItalianPalmsPapersFlewGinDampPalm TreesBeirutLebaneseGin And Tonic
Book:Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War
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“If you tell the truth you do not need a good memory!”

IfsNeedsTruthLyingMemoriesHonestyIntegrityBeing HonestTelling The TruthLiarsTruthfulLiedMake You ThinkGood MemoriesChakraTruth And LiesBeing TruthfulTrustworthinessHonest TruthNever LieTruth And HonestyHonesty IntegrityTruth HonestyHonesty And IntegrityTruth Be ToldMy TruthNo MemoryHonest And IntegrityLies TruthTelling LiesBeing LiedBeirutTrust And RespectLeadership IntegrityProfound TruthSaying The TruthWhite LieNot HonestHidden TruthLies And LiarsTrust HonestyNot TrustingFinding Out The TruthTrust And HonestyHiding The TruthIntellectual HonestyTruth And RealityDishonesty And LyingHonesty InspirationalGood LiesYou LiedGood LiarHonest RelationshipTruth And Knowledge
Book:Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: by Mark Twain (Illustrated and Unabridged)
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“If you tell the truth, you don't need a long memory.”

IfsInspirationalNeedsLongTruthLyingMemoriesHonestyIntegrityBeing HonestTelling The TruthLiarsTruthfulLiedMake You ThinkChakraTruth And LiesBeing TruthfulTrustworthinessHonest TruthNever LieTruth And HonestyHonesty IntegrityTruth HonestyDon't LieHonesty And IntegrityTruth Be ToldMy TruthNo MemoryHonest And IntegrityLies TruthTelling LiesHonesty Is The Best PolicyBeing LiedBeirutTrust And RespectProfound TruthSaying The TruthWhite LieI Don't LieHidden TruthLies And LiarsTrust HonestyFinding Out The TruthTrust And HonestyHiding The TruthIntellectual HonestyTruth And RealityDishonesty And LyingHonesty InspirationalYou LiedGood LiarHonest RelationshipTruth And KnowledgeDon't Lie To Me
Author:Jesse Ventura
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