58 Powerful Quotes for Arab American Heritage Month

You found our list of inspiring Arab American Heritage Month quotes.

Arab American Heritage Month happens in April and gives recognition to individuals who identify as Arabic. The quotes on this list are from important Arab figures in history, modern Arab or Arab American icons, or speak to the Arab experience. The purpose of these sayings is to honor the contributions of the Arab community, educate the wider world about Arabic culture, and empower Arabic professionals.

These sayings are one way to celebrate Arab American Heritage Month at work. This quote collection is similar to Black History Month quotes, Indigenous Heritage Month quotes, Asian Heritage Month Quotes, and Hispanic Heritage Month quotes.

This post includes:

• quotes from important Arab figures and Arab Americans
• quotes by Arab writers
• Arabic proverbs

Here we go.

Quotes from important Arab figures and Arab Americans

1. “We must stand together united in solidarity against the targeting, demonization, and vilification of any group of people.” – Linda Sarsour
2. “The days, months, and years eventually reveal, like a Polaroid, a clear picture of how significant events and decisions ultimately shape our lives.” – Hoda Kotb
3. ” Keep the faith, don’t lose your perseverance and always trust your gut extinct.” – Paula Abdul
4. “He who cannot support himself, cannot take his own decision.” – Gamal Abdel Nasser
5. “Everybody starts small. We all begin life as a single cell. Every business starts as one person with an idea. How fast you go, how far you get, is in your hands. The bigger your vision, the bigger your achievement will be. Will you stumble on the way? Perhaps, but we cannot let fear keep us small. We have to be brave to be big.” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
6. “We do not surrender — we win or die.” – Omar Mukhtar
7. “I want to put a ding in the universe.” – Steve Jobs
8. “Like everywhere in the world, people of the Middle East aspire to liberty and justice. They wish to have a better life and a decent education for their children.” – Ahmed Zewail
9. “I believe that everyone gets a few good breaks in his or her life. The lucky ones are those who recognize them and change their lives accordingly.” – Mostafa A. El-Sayed
10. “Competition in itself encourages creativity and creativity is the basis of knowledge.” – Farouk El-Baz
11. “The largest opportunities are found in ideas that go against the grain.” – Omar Hamoui
12. “Immigration is the ultimate entrepreneurship.” – Sam Yagan
13. “It’s not necessarily bad that you have angst or you have anger – it’s what you do with it, how you interpret it into something profoundly moving.” – Sam Esmail
14. “Patience is the only way you can endure the gray periods.” – Teri Hatcher
15. “Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.” – Edward Said
16. “Always believe in your ability and in your goals. This is the only way you will be able to reach them.” – Mohamed Salah
17. “We have to be a nation of compassion and some sort of humanity when it comes to the treatment of other human beings.” – Rashida Tlaib
18. “We are stronger when we listen and smarter when we share.” – Queen Rania Al Abdullah
19. “The more brilliant the lighting, the quicker it disappears.” – Ibn Sina
20. “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
21. “This worldly life is like a shadow. If you try to catch it, you will never be able to do so. If you turn your back towards it, it has no choice but to follow you.”- Ibn Quayyim Al-Jawziyya
22. “The World is three days: As for yesterday, it has vanished, along with all that was in it. As for tomorrow, you may never see it. As for today, it is yours, so work in it.” – Hasan of Basra

Quotes by Arab writers

1. “To overcome my fear, I shackled myself with hope, its links heavier than any metal known to man.” – Laila Lalami
2. “When we go deep enough or high enough, we meet. It is only on the surface that we differ and sometimes clash. True, we do not always find our way to the depth or the height, or we do not take the trouble to do so.” – Ameen Rihani
3. “All great art allows us this: a glimpse across the limits of our self.” – Hisham Matar
4. “You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” – Naguib Mahfouz
5. “There’s beauty in everything, but not everyone is able to feel it.” – Anis Mansour
6. “Home is not where you were born, home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” – Omar Taher
7. “Fear doesn’t prevent death. It prevents life.” – Naguib Mahfouz
8. “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.” -Khalil Gibran
9. “You have something in this world, so stand for it.” – Ghassan Kanafani
10. “Don’t trust the beginnings, truth is told in the last moments.” – Ahlam Mosteghanemi
11. “Dive into the sea, or stay away” – Nizar Qabbani
12. “Without hope we are lost.” – Mahmoud Darwish
13. “A man who is noble does not pretend to be noble, any more than an eloquent man feigns eloquence. When a man exaggerates his qualities it is because of something lacking in him;
14. the bully gives himself airs because he is conscious of his weakness.” – Al-Jahiz

Arabic Proverbs

1. He who digs a pit for his brother, falls into it.
2. He who desires the top must sit up many nights.
3. If speaking was of silver, then silence is of gold.
4. Necessity is the mother of invention.
5. A known mistake is better than an unknown truth.
6. A pebble can support a barrel.
7. Close the door that brings in the wind and relax.
8. Do not buy either the moon or the news, for in the end they will both come out.
9. Do not eat your bread on somebody else’s table.
10. Falseness lasts an hour, the truth lasts until the end of time.
11. He who sees the calamity of other people finds his own calamity light.
12. If the wind blows, ride it.
13. If you have an opinion, you better be determined.
14. In haste there is regret, but in patience and care there is peace and safety.
15. It’s better to avoid mistakes altogether than do something that you should apologize for after.
16. Lack of intelligence is the greatest poverty.
17. Movement is a blessing.
18. Planning is half of living.
19. The house of a tyrant is a ruin.
20. Were it not for differences of opinion, goods would go unsold.
21. Ask the experienced rather than the learned.
22. Spirit is the sword and experience the sharpening stone.

Final Thoughts

According to history, some of the earliest instances of written language happened in areas that are now part of the Arabic world. Yet in the Western world there are not many well-known quotes from Arabic figures. The sayings on this list are a collection of quotes from both historical and modern-day Arab figures of notes. These phrases are an easy way to celebrate Arab American Heritage Month in the office and can spark curiosity that inspires folks to look into the rich culture of the Arabic world.

For more wise words, check out these quotes on creativity and these quotes about hard work.