You cannot blame the Sahara alone for the troubles. But you should also not see the desert simply as some faraway place of little rain. There are many forms of thirst. – William Langewiesche, Sahara Unveiled: A Journey Across the Desert

It was the farthest she had ever been from home, not only in miles but in feeling. The vastness of the desert frightened her. Everything looked too far away, even the cloudless sky. There was nowhere you could hide in such emptiness. – James Carlos Blake, The Rules of Wolfe: A Border Noir, 2013

You know you live in Phoenix when you can drive four hours in any one direction and never leave the Valley. – Author unknown