I no longer believe that we can keep silent. We never really do, mind you. In one way or another we articulate… — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
“She is a tyrant much in the way of a bad novelist, who shapes his characters according to his own ideology or… — Azar Nafisi Novelist Copy Share Image
Poor reading, like poor writing, is imposing what you already know on texts. You should go into reading to discover, not to… — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
“The room was full when I walked in, but as soon as I took my place behind the desk, my nervousness left… — Azar Nafisi Anxiety Copy Share Image
That, of course, is what great works of imagination do for us: They make us a little restless, destabilize us, question our… — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels-the biggest sin is to be blind to others problems… — Azar Nafisi Blind Copy Share Image
Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life. — Azar Nafisi Art Copy Share Image
“Poshlust, Nabokov explains, "is not only the obviously trashy but mainly the falsely important, the falsely beautiful, the falsely clever, the falsely… — azar nafisi Copy Share Image
People would react to books by authors like James and Austen almost on a gut level. I think it was not so… — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
“It wasn't courage that motivated this casual, impersonal manner of treating so much pain; it was a special brand of cowardice, a… — Azar Nafisi Courage Copy Share Image
You don't read Gatsby, I said, to learn whether adultery is good or bad but to learn about how complicated issues such… — Azar Nafisi Adultery Copy Share Image
Once evil is individualized, becoming part of everyday life, the way of resisting it also becomes individual. How does the soul survive?… — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
“One cancels the other, and yet without one, the other is incomplete. In the first photograph, standing there in our black robes… — Azar Nafisi Dreams Copy Share Image
“In class, we were discussing the concept of the villain in the novel. I had mentioned that Humbert was a villain because… — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
“You yourself told us that in the final analysis we are our own betrayers, playing Judas to our own Christ” — Azar Nafisi Betrayers Copy Share Image
“Going away isn't going to help as much as you think. The memory stays with you, and the stain. It's not something… — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
“...but I spoke passionately at the rallies; inspired by phrases I had read in novels and poems, I would weave words together… — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
“Poetry was a way to combat the staid and formulaic language of politicians that opposed the flexible and dynamic language of poets… — Azar Nafisi Poetry Copy Share Image
Unfortunately for governments like that of Iran, when they forbid something, people become more interested. — Azar Nafisi Government Copy Share Image
Every culture has something to be ashamed of, but every culture also has the right to change, to challenge negative traditions, and… — Azar Nafisi Ashamed Copy Share Image
I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access… — Azar Nafisi Access Copy Share Image
“She looked not so much composed as drawn inward. She was one of those people who are irrevocably, incurably honest and therefore… — Azar Nafisi Character Copy Share Image
“And even with the book closed, the voices do not stop--there are echoes and reverberations that seem to leap off the pages… — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
None of us can avoid being contaminated by the world's evils; it's all a matter of what attitude you take towards them. — Azar Nafisi Attitude Copy Share Image
Thus the regime has deprived Iranian women not just of their present rights, but also of their history and their past. — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
A bad author can take the most moral issue and make you want to just never, ever think about that moral issue. — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
“Non sminuire mai, in nessuna circostanza, un'opera letteraria cercando di trasformarla in una copia della vita reale.” — Azar Nafisi Amor Copy Share Image
When I walked down the streets, I asked myself, are these my people?, is this my hometown, am I who I am? — Azar Nafisi Hometown Copy Share Image
“Do we consider that anything goes, that we have no responsibility towards others but only for satisfying our needs? Well, that is… — azar nafisi Books Copy Share Image
“A great novel heightens your senses and sensitivity to the complexities of life and of individuals, and prevents you from the self-righteousness… — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
This is a good time to ask apologists for the Islamic regime, who degrades Islam? Who imposes stoning, forced marriage of underage… — Azar Nafisi Ancient Copy Share Image
“These characters depend to such a high degree on their own sense of integrity that for them, victory has nothing to do… — Azar Nafisi Happiness Copy Share Image
“You don't understand their mentality. They won't accept your resignation because they don't think you have the right to quit. They are… — Azar Nafisi Mentality Copy Share Image
“I have now become something of an expert in the ways of “decisive” men. They are not firm, they just seem to… — Azar Nafisi Confident Copy Share Image
Visa for Avalon is a testament to the power of fiction. It illuminates the truth at the heart of what is commonly… — Azar Nafisi Copy Share Image
“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath… — Azar Nafisi Another world Copy Share Image
We do not read in order to turn great works of fiction into simplistic replicas of our own realities, we read for… — Azar Nafisi Books Copy Share Image
Basically, fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon. In the same way that Hitler evoked a mythological religion of German purity and the glory… — Azar Nafisi Emotion Copy Share Image
