“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did.”
— T.E Lawrence

T.E. Lawrence, T.E. standing for Thomas Edward, was a British military officer who gained notoriety for his actions during the Arab Revolt during the first world war.

He has his own movie that is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made (IMDB #100) and even makes an appearance in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire (around the 2:29 mark).

But Lawrence is not a fun lyric or even a cinematic experience.

Lawrence made things possible.

Between 1914 and 1918 Lawrence spent time in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Arabia helping forge an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Post-war Lawrence’s fame exploded. He wrote his own book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, American journalists sensationalized his escapades, and he developed relationships with politicians, writers, and artists around the world. In 1935, Lawrence died abruptly in a motorcycle accident at the age of 46 adding more mystique to an already legendary life.