When I was thinking about a title for this website a number of months ago, events in my life had reminded me of a scene from that glorious 1962 epic, Lawrence of Arabia. When Ali tells Lawrence that Gasim’s fate “is written” and that he should simply be forfeited to the brutal judgement of the desert, Lawrence refuses to accept.
Instead of meekly submitting to the assessment that a rescue mission cannot be done, Lawrence rejects the received wisdom and defies Ali. Upon his return, with Gasim in tow, he looks hard at Ali and tells him, “nothing is written.”
Later, having witnessed Lawrence’s sheer power of will, Ali realises the folly of the idea that something would necessarily be so, merely because “it is written”.
What follows is a meditation on what makes someone who they are. It is a crucial moment in the film between Omar Sharif‘s Ali and Peter O’Toole‘s Lawrence, with dialogue marked by the beautiful clarity that often accompanies brevity.
Ali: “El Aurens, truly for some men, nothing is written unless they write it.”
Lawrence: “Not ‘El Aurens’, just ‘Lawrence’.”
Ali: “‘El Aurens’ is better.”
Lawrence: “True.”
Ali: “Your father, too? Just Mr Lawrence?”
Lawrence: “My father is Sir Thomas Chapman.”
Ali: “Is that a lord?”
Lawrence: “A kind of lord.”
Ali: “So when he dies, you, too, will be a lord.”
Lawrence: “No.”
Ali: “Ah, you have an elder brother.”
Lawrence: “No.”
Ali: “But then, I do not understand this. Your father’s name is Chapman…”
Lawrence: “Ali, he didn’t marry my mother.”
Ali: “I see.”
Lawrence: “I’m sorry.”
Ali: “It seems to me, you are free to choose your own name, then.”
Lawrence:”Yes, I suppose I am.”
Ali: “El Aurens is best.”
Lawrence: “All right. I’ll settle for El Aurens.”
It is a powerful scene, which embeds two key concepts: One, that a person’s family background and perceived ‘pedigree’ – or lack thereof – does not define that person’s character and two, that a person can leave their mark on the world in manifold and magnificent ways, should they so choose.
The theme of ‘nothing is written’ as expressed in Lawrence of Arabia is an uplifting one to me, but there is a double meaning behind its use as a name for this blog too, because I have been notoriously poor at making sure something is written.
Outside of professional duties, I have been meaning to write more for years. I want to write about my brother Patrick, his life and death, his legacy and our lives. I want to write about the human condition, popular culture, politics and the reception of ideas. I want to share things that have illuminated my life and made me laugh. I want to highlight the work of others who inspire and encourage me.
Unfortunately, I have a great habit of staring blankly at a screen for hours and when I do get words down, I’ll often delete them. So, this website is another attempt to rectify that phenomenon.
I intend to re-publish some of the things I have written on my Tumblr blog and publish new material along the way too. Eventually, the hope is that it’ll become second nature.
Nothing is written 