“It's bullshit what that bullshitter says. A story's a story, whether it's beautiful or bullshit.” — Hassan Blasim Bullshit Copy Share Image
“Every man has both a poetic obligation and a human obligation.” — Hassan Blasim Every man Copy Share Image
The Iran-Iraq war began the same year that I went to primary school, at the age of six. — Hassan Blasim Age Copy Share Image
I'm talking about the essence of humanity. Hope is mixed into the blood of every human being, everywhere and in every time. — Hassan Blasim Blood Copy Share Image
I didn't start publishing literary texts until I had left Iraq. At the Academy [of Cinematic Arts] I was busy with short… — Hassan Blasim Academy Copy Share Image
"Secret migration" across borders is a form of human degradation and evidence of the depravity of the human conscience. — Hassan Blasim Borders Copy Share Image
One of the Baathists once told me, "If you're not careful, I'll have you put away," and those words meant death. — Hassan Blasim Careful Copy Share Image
The trail of "secret migration" was a shock to me. I knew a little about the difficulties, just bits of news in… — Hassan Blasim Bits Copy Share Image
I've been working on the margins and I was aware of this choice from the start. I buy most of what's written… — Hassan Blasim Arab world Copy Share Image
“I wanted to reach back to other times I might have lived in, the traces of which are scattered to places I… — Hassan Blasim Time Copy Share Image
I studied at the Academy during the years of economic sanctions. Life was almost dead because the sanctions imposed on Iraq by… — Hassan Blasim Academy Copy Share Image
How can one talk in a classical language about a child who's torn apart in an explosion in the market near his… — Hassan Blasim Children Copy Share Image
The people in Arab countries are now speaking out and asking many questions about human rights, minorities, religion, democracy, "the other," and… — Hassan Blasim Arab Copy Share Image
It's ridiculous and painful to use the Arabic of an Iraqi poet who lived centuries ago to describe what we in Iraq… — Hassan Blasim Century Copy Share Image
Some Iraqi writers are more daring today and have excellent imaginations and their material is rich in human experience. But the Arab… — Hassan Blasim Anarchy Copy Share Image
“...I believe in dreams more than I believe in God. Dreams get into you and leave, then come back with new fruit,… — Hassan Blasim Believe in god Copy Share Image
In art class at school we learned how to draw tanks and soldiers opening fire at [Iranian leader Ayatollah] Khomeini and his… — Hassan Blasim All kinds Copy Share Image
When my stories were translated into other languages and received good reviews in the international press and won prizes, some Arab festivals… — Hassan Blasim Festivals Copy Share Image
“On more than one occasion I heard how life apparently advances, moves on, sets sail or, at worst, apparently crawls slowly forward.… — Hassan Blasim Change Copy Share Image
“The pleasure I found in reading books was disconcerting...I felt anxious about every new piece of information. I would latch onto one… — Hassan Blasim Books Copy Share Image
We used to watch executions. I mentioned that in one of my stories. There was a piece of open ground near the… — Hassan Blasim Areas Copy Share Image
“The dead, Your Honor, do not agonize over their crimes and do not long to be happy, as you know. If from… — Hassan Blasim Death Copy Share Image
All the children in the world, when they go to school, have the right to study in their mother tongue. But we… — Hassan Blasim Aliens Copy Share Image
While I was studying film at the Academy, the problems started. I wasn't a political activist directly in the time of Saddam… — Hassan Blasim Academy Copy Share Image
“The operation would be in a week...I didn't know if I would survive. How I longed to go back to reading! There… — Hassan Blasim Books Copy Share Image
I began writing and became attached to writing at an early age. I began by writing poetry and experimenting with dialogues: modest… — Hassan Blasim Age Copy Share Image
I'm not much interested in prizes, whether from the Arab world or from the Western world. Writing is a very difficult process… — Hassan Blasim Arab Copy Share Image
The Arab world is full of corruption, in the time of the dictatorships and in the time of anarchy. This corruption is… — Hassan Blasim Activity Copy Share Image
“You can't understand beauty without peace of mind and you can't get close to the truth without fear.” — Hassan Blasim Beauty Copy Share Image
“The dead, Your Honor, do not agonize over their crimes and do not long to be happy, as you know.” — Hassan Blasim Black humor Copy Share Image
Knowledge and imagination are the life buoy and the extra lung for breathing outside the walls of a tainted reality. — Hassan Blasim Breathing Copy Share Image
Losing hope means ceasing to love my son and my girlfriend and many friends and people around the world. — Hassan Blasim Around the world Copy Share Image
“The question of humanity can be solved only by constant dread.” — Hassan Blasim Fear Copy Share Image
In fact I didn't think about fear much at the time. I felt angry about everything that was happening around me: the… — Hassan Blasim Angry Copy Share Image
For seven years I wrote and published my texts on the Internet and no Arab festival invited me and no Arab publishing… — Hassan Blasim Book Copy Share Image
“There's no need to kick him in the balls for him to tell the story honestly and impartially, because the dead are… — Hassan Blasim Death Copy Share Image
I live in a small country in Europe - Finland - and I don't speak English well and I had nothing to… — Hassan Blasim Country Copy Share Image
We in Iraq have not descended from another planet. Just as people in many other countries have gotten over the tragedy of… — Hassan Blasim Country Copy Share Image
You learn something from the classics but your feelings and your imagination operate in the domain of the colloquial. We need to… — Hassan Blasim Domain Copy Share Image
I still write in literary Arabic but I try to rid it of the rhetoric, the symbolism, and the stuff that ordinary… — Hassan Blasim Arabic Copy Share Image
![“I didn't start publishing literary texts until I had left Iraq. At the Academy [of Cinematic Arts] I was busy with short films.” quote by Hassan Blasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b32/hassan-blasim-14317_academy_i-didn-t-start-publishing-literary-texts_1128151.jpg)
![“In art class at school we learned how to draw tanks and soldiers opening fire at [Iranian leader Ayatollah] Khomeini and his beard. They didn't teach us the names of the flowers that grew around us in the city - wild flowers of all kinds and all colors. The math teacher used to whip the kids with…” quote by Hassan Blasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/322/hassan-blasim-14317_all-kinds_in-art-class-at-school-we-learned-how-to_1258039.jpg)
![“While I was studying film at the Academy, the problems started. I wasn't a political activist directly in the time of Saddam [Hussein], because the dictator was so cruel and brutal that no one could criticize or complain. I felt futile and empty. The only solution in Iraq was to run away.” quote by Hassan Blasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5e9/hassan-blasim-14317_academy_while-i-was-studying-film-at-the-academy_1714157.jpg)
