Naguib Mahfouz Quotes - Page 3

The criminal is trying to solve his immediate problems.

Without literature my life would be miserable.

He seemed to be waiting for a miracle to save him from the depths his life had reached and take him to a land of dreams.

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.

We are passing through a very sensitive time, and on the whole, this country is facing very big problems.

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.

In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.

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.

Insults are the business of the court.

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.

I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.

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 thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.

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.

My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize.

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.

I am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way.

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.

I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.

I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.

Winning Nobel imposed on me a lifestyle to which I am not used and which I would not have preferred.

It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.

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.

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.

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.