Ameen Rihani
Ameen Rihani
Ameen Rihani, was a Lebanese Arab-American writer, intellectual and political activist. He was also a major figure in the mahjar literary movement developed by Arab emigrants in North America, and an early theorist of Arab nationalism. He became an American citizen in 1901...
NationalityLebanese
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth24 November 1876
CountryLebanon
unity sublime deeds
We must strive to form a comprehensive sublime nationalism whose first principal is national geographic unity and must strengthen this unity with deeds not with words.
order denominations form
We have to dissolve all the denominations in order to form from them the greater denomination of the homeland.
perseverance spirit clear
The will is the spirit of perseverance, and perseverance holds clear success.
men training matter
Training the will in trivial and grave matters increases its strength and flexibility, and enables man to constantly strive and persevere.
men thinking self
Self-reliance leads to intellectual independence. Each man must think for himself, must train the mind to think, must habituate the soul to observe and analyze.
two mind body
True up-bringing is restricted to two types of welfare; the welfare of the body and that of the mind.
giving goal priorities
I give priority to up-bringing over education because the ultimate goal of up-bringing is morals, and we have a more urgent need for morals than for knowledge.
men needs moral
Knowledge is one of our direst needs. But it is insufficient on its own. If knowledge was stripped from true up-bringing, it would increase man's strength, but not his morals.
understanding arabia majesty
I proceeded in my national mission, seeking to pave the way for an understanding between His Majesty and the other ruling princes of Arabia.
country writing sea
I state the threefold purpose of my travels in Arabia: to see the country, to write about it and to be of some service to its people and their cause - that is what brought me from beyond the seas, from America.
men over-you soul
In the desert you become a discoverer. You discover your soul, which had been submerged in vain pursuits, which had been lost in the coils and toils of modern life. You discover your kinship with nature and man, which is evoked by the naturalness and the gentle humanity of the natives of the desert, and you will also discover God.
path shells academic
We can not understand each other, if our sympathies are always safely tucked away; we can not understand each other, if our approaches are always academic or conventional; we can not understand each other, if we crawl back into our shells every time we see a worm across our path.
heart yield understanding
The heart yields spontaneity; the mind bends to understanding.
keys tolerance mind
Mutual tolerance is the stepping stone to mutual respect. A hospitable mind is the key to a neighboring or an alien spirit, looked by dogma and guarded by tradition.