But Saudi Arabia is surprising in a lot of ways. Like any place, or any people, it relentlessly defies easy categorization.
The surprise is half the battle. Many things are half the battle, losing is half the battle. Let's think about what's the whole battle.
I think when you don't know where you stand with someone, they can surprise you in their goodness and their badness, and that makes them human.
Whatever precautions you take so the photograph will look like this or that, there comes a moment when the photograph surprises you. It is the other's gaze that wins out and decides.
What would surprise a lot of people about me... I'm a gardener! I have a green thumb. I really like to get into the shrubs, the bushes, and really cultivate.
The only way to go on holiday is with your expectations at ground level. Convince yourself before you go that the weather's going to be dreadful and there will be nylon sheets. You'll then be pleasantly surprised.
It still surprises me when I find something in any North Carolina newspaper that isn't mad at me about something.
What I try to do as an actor is constantly find that, find ways to risk, find opportunities to fall on my face if it's going to be worth it, and then maybe I'll surprise myself.
Lionel Richie, love song, OK, thank you very much, good-bye. And all of a sudden I realized that, in my career, what has made my career has always been the surprises.
I love the Coen brothers. They're so brilliant, and they always surprise you in one way or another. 'A Serious Man' was awesome. I like stuff like that, that kind of throws you for a loop. It takes you on a journey that is unexpected.
What is universal can be surprising. Over time you find the kind of stuff which has people thinking 'That is just something that occurred to me... there's something wrong with me', is in fact stuff that is universal.
People are always surprised when they spend time with my children by how normal they are. They're polite. They're well mannered. They're very down to earth, in a way.
We lose our right to be surprised that California has the highest recidivism rate in the country if we refuse to hire folks who have taken responsibility for their crimes and have done their time.
We never thought 'Say Something' would be a holiday song. I'm still surprised that it's resonating at this time of year. Maybe that's why it's working so well - it balances out all the joy.
Sometimes it is better to begin the journey, to get under way, then it is to sit back and wait until such time that you're convinced that all conditions are perfect and that there'll be no surprises along the route.
I do Nike Training Club, which is actually really hard and intense. I'm surprised every time I do it. I also use Map My Ride and Map My Run.
The biggest lesson that I've learned is that fashion is this tightrope where you have to be consistent but inconsistent. You need the connective thread but at the same time you need a sense of surprise.
From time to time, people pat me on the head. It happens on public transport, in the supermarket, in bars. It's a common enough occurrence that it very rarely takes me completely by surprise.
I trust it will not be giving away professional secrets to say that many readers would be surprised, perhaps shocked, at the questions which some newspaper editors will put to a defenseless woman under the guise of flattery.
Alex: Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well. To what do I owe the extreme pleasure of this surprising visit?
Timon: [to Nala, after she accidentally surprises him] Don't ever do that again! Carnivores, ugh!
