Wilfred Thesiger Quotes

British explorer, military officer, writer and botanical collector (1910-2003)

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger KBE, DSO, FRAS, FRSL, FRGS (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also called Mubarak bin London (Arabic for "the blessed one of London") was an English explorer and travel writer.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alternative Names: Sir Wilfred Thesiger • Wilfred Patrick Thesiger • Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger • Wilfred, Sir Thesiger • Mubarak Bin London • Wilfred Patrick, Sir Thesiger • Wilfred Thesinger

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The biggest misfortune in human history is the invention of the combustion engine. Cars and airplanes diminish the world, rob it of all its diversity. Young men who meet me want to know how they could do what I've done. But all they can be is tourists now.

I think the harder the life, the finer the type, yes, and I certainly felt this about the Bedu. When I went there, I felt that the difficulty was going to be living up physically to the hardships of their life. But, on the contrary, it was the difficulty of meeting their high standards: their generosity, their patience, their loyalty, their courage and all these things. And they had a quality of nobility.

They [the Middle East Anti Locust Unit] were the golden key that unlocked Arabia for me. To somebody who was interested in desert exploration the Empty Quarter offered the, sort of, ultimate challenge.

God, you must be a couple of pansies.