Naguib Mahfouz

Insults are the business of the court.

— Naguib Mahfouz

The real malady is fear of life, not of death

— Naguib Mahfouz

In the calculus of good deeds you have the most to gain.

— Naguib Mahfouz

If life has no meaning, why don't we create a meaning for it?

— Naguib Mahfouz

God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.

— Naguib Mahfouz

Sadat made us feel more secure.

— Naguib Mahfouz

If we reject science, we reject the common man.

— Naguib Mahfouz

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.

— Naguib Mahfouz

“When disasters come at the same time, they compete with each other.”

— Naguib Mahfouz

He seemed to be waiting for a miracle to save him from the depths his life had reached and take him to…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Falseness in life is the secret that makes man's inner self a rare truth; it hides from him although it's obvious to…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Perhaps boredom was an irrelevant concept for a life as monotonous as hers.”

— Naguib Mahfouz

I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.

— Naguib Mahfouz

Nothing records the effects of a sad life so graphically as the human body.

— Naguib Mahfouz

Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life.

— Naguib Mahfouz

I've never worked in politics, never been a member of an official committee or a political party.

— Naguib Mahfouz

I was afraid of marriage. I had the impression married life would take up all my time. I saw myself drowning in…

— Naguib Mahfouz

Art is a criticism of society and life, and I believe that if life became perfect, art would be meaningless and cease…

— Naguib Mahfouz

I started writing while I was a little boy. Maybe it's because I was reading a lot of books I admired, and…

— Naguib Mahfouz

When will the state of the country be sound?... When its people believe that the end result of cowardice is more disastrous…

— Naguib Mahfouz

As for life's tragedies, our love will defeat them. Love is the most effective cure. In the crevices of disasters, happiness lies…

— Naguib Mahfouz

I reject any path which rejects life, but I can't help loving Sufism because it sounds so beautiful. It gives relief in…

— Naguib Mahfouz

As the tension eases, we must look in the direction of agriculture, industry and education as our final goals, and toward democracy…

— Naguib Mahfouz

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.

— Naguib Mahfouz

“How could the prisoner break his chains? I pictured a world, a righteous world, with no sin, no bonds, no social obligations;…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“What a lot of graves there are laid out as far as the eye can see!. Their headstones are like hands raised…

— Naguib Mahfouz

I am the son of two civilizations that at a certain age in history have formed a happy marriage. The first of…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Death is more merciful than hope itself! There is nothing surprising in this, for death is divinely appointed, while hope is the…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Pharaoh is divinity made in flesh. The nobility are his deputies who reflect his light. How could their places be filled by…

— Naguib Mahfouz

When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day,…

— Naguib Mahfouz

I believe in life and in people. I feel obliged to advocate their highest ideals as long as I believe them to…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Just think," I say, trying to calm her down. "The two of us naked in a car, but safe and sound all…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Kamal was distressed and angry, not merely at the insult to the honor of teachers but first and foremost for the sake…

— Naguib Mahfouz

“Not fighting is as good as treason, isn't it?”

— Naguib Mahfouz

Madness is the acme of intelligence.

— Naguib Mahfouz

Happy is he who can give himself up.

— Naguib Mahfouz

The heart is a place of secrets...

— Naguib Mahfouz

Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.

— Naguib Mahfouz

Without literature my life would be miserable.

— Naguib Mahfouz

You know what I'm afraid of? That God is sick of us.

— Naguib Mahfouz