“The past is bound to be fragmentary, bound to be reconstructed, bound to be reinvented. It serves only to collect the truths of today. If our present is the child of the past, our past is the child of the… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“By living exclusively for the present, we let ourselves be hemmed in by an ocean of death. Conversely, by reviving the past, we enlarge our living space.” — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“Yes indeed, both Muslim and Jewish!I, her father, am Muslim, at least on paper; her mother is Jewish, at least in theory. With us,… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
The fact of simultaneously being Christian and having as my mother tongue Arabic, the holy language of Islam, is one of the basic paradoxes… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
Let your tears roll tonight, but tomorrow you will start the battle again. What defeats us, always, is just our own sorrow. — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“Can we reconcile indefinitely these two imperatives: the desire to preserve every individual's special identity and the need for Europeans to be able to… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“A community begins to fall apart the moment it agrees to abandon the weakest of its members.” — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
Our ancestors derived less from life than we do, but they also expected much less and were less intent on controlling the future. We… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“Til gjengjeld er det store sjanser for at ethvert amerikansk valg heretter vil bli et verdensomspennende psykordrama.” — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“Someone other than I might have used the word “roots”. It is not part of my vocabulary. I don’t like the word, and I… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“On les écouta, on compatit, on s'indigna, on promit, mais on ne bougea pas une lance” — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
“Clawing its way towards us, the ugliness of the world tore away our hiding-place.” — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
What makes me myself rather than anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages, and… — Amin Maalouf Copy Share Image
