Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Hosni Mubarak... his constitution is not democratic, but he is democratic. We can voice our opinions now. The press is free.
In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.
Art is a criticism of society and life, and I believe that if life became perfect, art would be meaningless and cease to exist.
One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.
We are like a woman with a difficult pregnancy. We have to rebuild the social classes in Egypt, and we must change the way things were.
There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see.
History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.
It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.
We used the Western style to express our own themes and stories. But don't forget that our heritage includes The Thousand and One Nights.
The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level.
I reject any path which rejects life, but I can't help loving Sufism because it sounds so beautiful. It gives relief in the midst of battle.
I was afraid of marriage. I had the impression married life would take up all my time. I saw myself drowning in visits and parties. No freedom.
I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.
As the tension eases, we must look in the direction of agriculture, industry and education as our final goals, and toward democracy under Mr Mubarak.
A priest's life is spent between question and answer-- or between a question and the attempt to answer it. The question is the summary of the spiritual life.
I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat.
When will the state of the country be sound?... When its people believe that the end result of cowardice is more disastrous than that of behaving with integrity.
It's not surprising that truly humanitarian manifestos originate frequently in minority circles or with people whose consciences are troubled by the problems of minorities.
I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning.
I love Sufism as I love beautiful poetry, but it is not the answer. Sufism is like a mirage in the desert. It says to you, come and sit, relax and enjoy yourself for a while.
My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize.
Literature should be more revolutionary than revolutions themselves; writers must find the means to continue to be critical of the negative elements in the sociopolitical reality.
The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.
As for life's tragedies, our love will defeat them. Love is the most effective cure. In the crevices of disasters, happiness lies like a diamond in a mind, so let us instill in ourselves the wisdom of love.
I started writing while I was a little boy. Maybe it's because I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday. Also, my love for good writing pushed me.
For the first time in my life, I felt that a wave, a justice was sweeping away a deep-seated decay without any indulgence. I dearly wished that it would keep going without hesitation or deviation, in a spirit of purity forever.
I am the son of two civilizations that at a certain age in history have formed a happy marriage. The first of these, seven thousand years old, is the Pharaonic civilization; the second, one thousand four hundred years old, is the Islamic civilization.
I believe in life and in people. I feel obliged to advocate their highest ideals as long as I believe them to be true. I also see myself compelled to revolt against ideals I believe to be false, since recoiling from rebellion would be a form of treason
Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We are condemned to work with upstarts, clowns who no doubt got their training in a circus and then turned to journalism as the appropriate place to display their tricks.
When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day, that week ... I write stories the same way. Events at home, in school, at work, in the street, these are the bases for a story. Some experiences leave such a deep impression that instead of talking about them at the club I work them into a novel.