Andre Maurois should not be confused with Andre Malraux, who is more photogenic. Ah, all French writers should look like this.

You are going to live in a country far far away, not by distance, but by ideas and behaviour. You are going to live in a difficult and mysterious country. In the first few days you will think: ‘This undertaking is hopeless; I’ll never get to know them; the gulf is too wide to be bridged.’ Don’t panic. We can bridge it. Tell yourself that when you are eventually adopted they will be the most faithful of friends. Read Lawrence’s book Revolt in the Desert; you’ll see how this lone Englishman crossed a dangerous desert to search for a nobody Arab left behind by the caravan. Such is the friendship of the best among them. I tested it out for myself