“If one does not wish to be dissatisfied with one’s lot at home, one ought to go where the flies and the stinks are, which means the Middle East. This is also a good way of reconciling oneself to one’s laws and police force and the probity of one’s magistrates. The really great British travellers, like Charles M. Doughty for instance, to say nothing of ‘Eothen’ Kinglake, always went East, but not too far East. When you get to Southeast Asia you find no dirt or flies but the suspicion that you are in a tropical paradise, and then you go to pieces. It is essential, when travelling, to feel that you belong to a superior civilization, and the lands of the Arabs lavishly grant opportunities to nourish this conviction….”

Non-Fiction, Homage to QWERT YUIOP: Selected Journalism 1978-1985 (1986)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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English writer 1917–1993

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“The holy march on which the Arab nation insists, will carry us forward from one victory to another … the flag of freedom which flies over Baghdad today will fly over Amman and Riyadh. Yes, the flag of freedom which flies over Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad today will fly over the rest of the Middle East”

Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) second president of Egypt

Aburish, Said K. (2004), Nasser, the Last Arab, New York City

“I thanked the President [George W. Bush] for the steadfastness and resolve with which he's tackling the very complicated problems in the Middle East and Iraq, as well as the Israel-Palestinian issue…. It's critical for us in Southeast Asia that America does that…. because it affects America's standing in Asia and the world, and also the security environment in Asia because extremists, the jihadists, watch carefully what's happening in the Middle East and take heart, or lose heart, depending on what's happening.”

Lee Hsien Loong (1952) Prime Minister of Singapore

President Bush Welcomes Prime Minister Lee of Singapore to the White House http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070504-3.html# May 4, 2007

“East? They wouldn’t know the bloody East if they saw it. Not if you was to hand it to them on a plate would they know it was the East. That’s where the East is, there.' He waved his hand wildly into the black night. 'Out there, west. You wasn’t there, so you wouldn’t know. Now I was. Palestine Police from the end of the war till we packed up. That was the East. You was in India, and that’s not the East any more than this is. So you know nothing about it either. So you needn’t be talking.”

Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) English writer

Fiction, Time for a Tiger (1956)

“[There is only one possible solution to unrest in the Middle East], "namely the annihilation and destruction of the Zionist state."”

Ali Khamenei (1939) Iranian Shiite faqih, Marja' and official independent islamic leader

December 31, 1999 speech on Qods Day, as quoted in "Iranian leader urges destruction of Israel", The Spokesman-Review (January 1, 2000)
1990s

“The best thing about the Middle East is that is keeps the Far East and Near East from encroaching on each other.”

Dan Quayle (1947) American politician, lawyer

All three of the above are from "Future Quayle Quotes We Can Expect to Hear" by Al Jaffee, in MAD magazine, (October 1991), pp. 10–11
Cited in [John Kerry or George W. Bush Misquotes, http://www.snopes.com/quotes/candidate.asp, snopes.com, 2008-12-31, 2004-09-22, Barbara Mikkelson]
Misattributed

“If Thucydides were plopped down in the Middle East or East Asia, he would probably recognize … the situation quite quickly.”

Joseph Nye (1937) American political scientist

Source: Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History (6th ed., 2006), Chapter 9, A New World Order?, p. 281.

“East? They wouldn’t know the bloody East if they saw it. Not if you was to hand it to them on a plate would they know it was the East. That’s where the East is, there.”

Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) English writer

He waved his hand wildly into the black night. 'Out there, west. You wasn’t there, so you wouldn’t know. Now I was. Palestine Police from the end of the war till we packed up. That was the East. You was in India, and that’s not the East any more than this is. So you know nothing about it either. So you needn’t be talking.'
Fiction, Time for a Tiger (1956)

“One flew east, One flew west, One flew over the cuckoo's nest.”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

A children's folk rhyme quoted in the front pages of the book.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962)

“Go far—too far you cannot, still the farther
The more experience finds you: And go sparing;—
One meal a week will serve you, and one suit,
Through all your travels; for you'll find it certain,
The poorer and the baser you appear,
The more you look through still.”

John Fletcher The Woman's Prize

The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed (c. 1611; published 1647), Act IV, scene 5, line 199.

“Whenever I travel the world, from Europe to Africa, South America to Southeast Asia, one of the things I most enjoy doing is meeting young men and women like you.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

It’s more fun than being in a conference room. And it’s also more important -- because you are the young leaders who will determine the future of this country and this region. So I’m going to keep my remarks short at the top, because I want to take as many questions and comments from you.
2014, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall Speech (November 2014)

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