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Azar Nafisi Quotes about Pain

All Azar Nafisi Quotes Art Country Culture Evil Giving Heart Imagination Islam Literature Lying Memories Pain quotes Passion Past Reality Revolution Struggle Writing
Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels-the biggest sin is to be blind to others problems and pains. Not seeing them means denying their existence.

Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels-the biggest sin is to be blind to others problems and pains. Not seeing them means denying their existence.

Azar Nafisi
Pain, Lying, Heart
Azar Nafisi (2003). “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books”, p.132, Random House

A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals, and creates enough space for all these characters to have a voice; in this way a novel is called democratic - not that it advocates democracy but that by nature it is so. Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels - the biggest sin is to be blind to others' problems and pains. Not seeing them means denying their existence.

Azar Nafisi
Pain, Lying, Heart
Azar Nafisi (2003). “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books”, p.132, Random House

The revolution taught me not to be consoled by other people's miseries, not to feel thankful because so many others had suffered more. Pain and loss, like love and joy, are unique and personal; they cannot be modified by comparison to others.

Azar Nafisi
Pain, Loss, Unique

I believe that it is only through empathy, that the pain experienced by an Algerian woman, a North Korean dissident, a Rwandan child or an Iraqi prisoner, becomes real to me and not just passing news. And it is at times like this when I ask myself, am I prepared - like Huck Finn - to give up Sunday school heaven for the kind of hell that Huck chose?

Azar Nafisi
Children, Giving Up, Pain

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