“The lapis lazuli worry beads, draped over his rear view mirror, swung back and forth like the hips of Scheherazade, Mohammed's favorite belly dancer, who refused, in spite of the war, to leave Baghdad.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“Yes, I know, I’m only an artist. What would I know about the dark side of Baghdad?” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share Image
“Are you a journalist?” “I’m a doctor.” “Good. We need doctors, Wallahi .” Sadoon scowled. “Journalists only tell lies and smuggle carpets.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
“But there are times, I would argue, when fiction delivers the greater truth.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
When you do a piece of journalism, you may have to cut away 95 percent of what you are experiencing. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
When I was in London at NBC, I was the lowest man on the totem pole. I would go to diplomatic receptions to meet… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
After reading Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad when I was a student at Yale, I wanted to live in the world they captured in… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
When I was at graduate school in London, I began working at NBC News, which had a thriving documentary unit. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
When you have a situation that's destructive, when there's tremendous inhumanity everywhere, you see how humanity survives in all of its different permutations. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
“There are a lot of people missing in Iraq. Just the other day I heard of somebody asking $250,000 ransom for an Egyptian. Can… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
“Death was sweetened for the martyrs by the promise of 72 virgins waiting in paradise. She had researched the 72 virgins. The number wasn’t… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
I think the greatest thing about making a documentary is your ability to just follow the story and the subject. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
In documentary films, the most difficult thing to achieve is to make something complex appear simple. — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
“You can take me to Petra, and sing for me in the ruins.” “Insha’Allah.” — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
Journalism, for me, has always been a calling. There are things that must be exposed to the light, truths that must be uncovered, stories… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
“She had done her residency at LA County Hospital, where the CT machines were so old she had to mark off the body parts… — Leslie Cockburn Copy Share
