--- title: "3 Austen Quotes By Azar Nafisi" description: "3 Austen quotes by Azar Nafisi. Plus more from Azar Nafisi and more Austen sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/azar-nafisi-2001_austen_modern-fiction-brings-out-the-evil-in-do_2468016.png" --- > [“Modern fiction brings out the evil in domestic lives, ordinary relations, people like you and me -- Reader! Bruder! as Humbert said.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/modern-fiction-brings-out-the-evil-in-domestic-lives-ordinary/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cb/azar-nafisi-2001_austen_modern-fiction-brings-out-the-evil-in-do_2468016.png) > [“It is not accidental that the most unsympathetic characters in Austen's novels are those who are incapable of genuine dialogue with others.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/it-is-not-accidental-that-the-most-unsympathetic-characters-in-austen/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac8/azar-nafisi-2001_austen_it-is-not-accidental-that-the-most-unsym_2515086.png) > [People would react to books by authors like James and Austen almost on a gut level. I think it was not so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/people-would-react-to-books-by-authors-like-james-and-austen-almost/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/azar-nafisi-2001_almost_people-would-react-to-books-by-authors-l_2896508.png) ## Other authors on Austen ## More by Azar Nafisi > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access to imagination.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/i-have-a-recurring-fantasy-that-one-more-article-has-been-added-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“Hope for some means its loss for others; when the hopeless regain some hope, those in power--the ones who had taken it away--become afraid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/hope-for-some-means-its-loss-for-others-when-the-hopeless-regain-some/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Imagine you are walking down a leafy path…The sun is receding, and you are walking alone, caressed by the breezy light of the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/imagine-you-are-walking-down-a-leafy-path-the-sun-is-receding-and-you/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order to survive, to protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/if-i-turned-towards-books-it-was-because-they-were-the-only-sanctuary/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [ “Such an act \[testifying for an accused prison guard of the Shah's regime\] can only be accomplished by someone who is engrossed in literature,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/such-an-act-testifying-for-an-accused-prison-guard-of-the-shah-s/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else’s shoes and understand the other’s different and contradictory sides and refrain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/it-is-only-through-literature-that-one-can-put-oneself-in-someone/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“That first day I asked my students what they thought fiction should accomplish, why one should bother to read fiction at all. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/that-first-day-i-asked-my-students-what-they-thought-fiction-should/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“you cannot just be stubborn against something, you need to be stubborn for something as well”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/you-cannot-just-be-stubborn-against-something-you-need-to-be-stubborn/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/do-not-under-any-circumstances-belittle-a-work-of-fiction-by-trying/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Visa for Avalon is a testament to the power of fiction. It illuminates the truth at the heart of what is commonly called reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/visa-for-avalon-is-a-testament-to-the-power-of-fiction-it-illuminates/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“You ask me what it means to be irrelevant? The feeling is akin to visiting your old house as a wandering ghost with unfinished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/you-ask-me-what-it-means-to-be-irrelevant-the-feeling-is-akin-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“I explained that most great works of the imagination were meant to make you feel like a stranger in your own home. The best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/i-explained-that-most-great-works-of-the-imagination-were-meant-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“We envy people like you, and we want to be you; we can't, so we destroy you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/we-envy-people-like-you-and-we-want-to-be-you-we-can-t-so-we-destroy/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“..."readers were born free and ought to remain free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/readers-were-born-free-and-ought-to-remain-free/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austen/azar-nafisi/#itemlist", "name": "3 Austen Quotes By Azar Nafisi", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Modern fiction brings out the evil in domestic lives, ordinary relations, people like you and me -- Reader! 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