Azar Nafisi

For more than 30 years the Islamic regime and its apologists have tried to dismiss women's struggle in Iran as part of…

— Azar Nafisi

There is little consolation in the fact that millions of people are unhappier than we are. Why should other people's misery make…

— Azar Nafisi

“Life in the Islamic Republic was as capricious as the month of April, when short periods of sunshine will suddenly give way…

— Azar Nafisi

“I told them this novel was an American classic, in many ways the quintessential American novel. There were other contenders: The Adventures…

— Azar Nafisi

That, of course, is what great works of imagination do for us: They make us a little restless, destabilize us, question our…

— Azar Nafisi

“The worst crime committed by totalitarian mind-sets is that they force their citizens, including their victims, to become complicit in their crimes.”

— Azar Nafisi

“I have now become something of an expert in the ways of “decisive” men. They are not firm, they just seem to…

— Azar Nafisi

“Is it possible to write a reverent novel," said Nassrin, "and to have it be good?...”

— Azar Nafisi

A novel is not moral in the usual sense of the word. It can be called moral when it shakes us out…

— Azar Nafisi

In all great works of fiction, regardless of the grim reality they present, there is an affirmation of life against the transience…

— Azar Nafisi

“Do we consider that anything goes, that we have no responsibility towards others but only for satisfying our needs? Well, that is…

— azar nafisi

“I searched modern fiction and poetry for clues to how we confronted and evaded reality, how we articulated our experience and turned…

— Azar Nafisi

It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom.

— Azar Nafisi

Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent.

— Azar Nafisi

“A novel is not an allegory, I said as the period was about to come to an end. It is the sensual…

— Azar Nafisi

I believe that it is only through empathy, that the pain experienced by an Algerian woman, a North Korean dissident, a Rwandan…

— Azar Nafisi

America was based on a poetic vision. What will happen when it loses its poetry?

— Azar Nafisi

This is a good time to ask apologists for the Islamic regime, who degrades Islam? Who imposes stoning, forced marriage of underage…

— Azar Nafisi

Art is as useful as bread.

— Azar Nafisi

“Only Catherine has the capacity to change and mature, although here...our heroine pays a dear price for this change. And she does…

— Azar Nafisi

“Poshlust, Nabokov explains, "is not only the obviously trashy but mainly the falsely important, the falsely beautiful, the falsely clever, the falsely…

— azar nafisi

“incapacity for true dialogue implies an incapacity for tolerance, self-reflection and empathy.”

— Azar Nafisi

A novel is not an allegory.... It is the sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your…

— Azar Nafisi

Every culture has something to be ashamed of, but every culture also has the right to change, to challenge negative traditions, and…

— Azar Nafisi

“I wish wish I could steal the intricacies of language. But give my kids a break—remember, most of them were fed on…

— Azar Nafisi