--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is Tehran for me: its absences were…" description: "\"“This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than its presences”\" — Azar Nafisi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png" --- # This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than… ![“This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than its presences” quote by Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png) > ““This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than its presences”” [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city feels empty, its lack of presence more tangible than any actual occurrence. **In simple terms:** Absence feels more real than presence. Key Takeaway Notice how emptiness can dominate perception. Themes loneliness perception urban life Mood melancholic reflective Type literary observational When to use this quote - travel - urban observation - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does the city’s emptiness reveal about you? - How do you fill perceived absences? A Different Perspective The statement may romanticize emptiness, overlooking concrete experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absences Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absences-real-2518103/) [Presences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presences-560331/) [Real Presences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-presences-2518102/) [Tehran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tehran/) [Tehran Absences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tehran-absences-2518101/) ## Related quotes > [What we search for in fiction is not so much reality, but the epiphany of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/what-we-search-for-in-fiction-is-not-so-much-reality-but-the-epiphany/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/every-great-work-of-art-is-a-celebration-an-act-of-insubordination/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“Tehran looked the way most of its remaining citizens must have felt: sad, forlorn, and defenseless, yet not without a certain dignity. The adhesive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/tehran-looked-the-way-most-of-its-remaining-citizens-must-have-felt/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“Do you not feel’, said the Doctor in his very soft but still crisp-edged voice, ‘that invisible presences have more reality than visible ones?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/do-you-not-feel-said-the-doctor-in-his-very-soft-but-still-crisp/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-seen-i-can-pay-attention-to-2/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“Her presences or absences din't matter alot i always painted picture with her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonjay-singh/her-presences-or-absences-din-t-matter-alot-i-always-painted-picture/) [Sonjay Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonjay-singh/) > [I think it was rather an advantage not having any living poets in England or America in whom one took any particular interest. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-think-it-was-rather-an-advantage-not-having-any-living-poets-in/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“It was the absences that had made her think, not the presences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/it-was-the-absences-that-had-made-her-think-not-the-presences/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [Poetry is not truth, it is the resurrection of presences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/poetry-is-not-truth-it-is-the-resurrection-of-presences/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt as presences. Without them I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/when-i-am-alone-the-flowers-are-really-seen-i-can-pay-attention-to/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I think there are presences out there that we can't see or directly communicate with that have benevolent influence on us. Whether they're angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/i-think-there-are-presences-out-there-that-we-can-t-see-or-directly/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [That's what all painting is about, it”s space and light occupied by human presences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kossoff/that-s-what-all-painting-is-about-it-s-space-and-light-occupied-by/) [Leon Kossoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kossoff/) > [People have presences, both online and in real life. You can choose to show everything, meaning all sides of you, or you can choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-systrom/people-have-presences-both-online-and-in-real-life-you-can-choose-to/) [Kevin Systrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-systrom/) > [“there are moments when we understand that the earth and the sky and the presences that may lie behind them are always with us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/there-are-moments-when-we-understand-that-the-earth-and-the-sky-and/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [“What explanation does Ibn Arabi give for these phenomena ? A first explanation invokes the hierarchical planes of being, the Hadarat, or "Presences." There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-corbin/what-explanation-does-ibn-arabi-give-for-these-phenomena-a-first/) [Henry Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-corbin/) ## More by Azar Nafisi > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access to imagination.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/i-have-a-recurring-fantasy-that-one-more-article-has-been-added-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“Hope for some means its loss for others; when the hopeless regain some hope, those in power--the ones who had taken it away--become afraid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/hope-for-some-means-its-loss-for-others-when-the-hopeless-regain-some/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Imagine you are walking down a leafy path…The sun is receding, and you are walking alone, caressed by the breezy light of the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/imagine-you-are-walking-down-a-leafy-path-the-sun-is-receding-and-you/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order to survive, to protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/if-i-turned-towards-books-it-was-because-they-were-the-only-sanctuary/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [ “Such an act \[testifying for an accused prison guard of the Shah's regime\] can only be accomplished by someone who is engrossed in literature,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/such-an-act-testifying-for-an-accused-prison-guard-of-the-shah-s/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [It is only through literature that one can put oneself in someone else’s shoes and understand the other’s different and contradictory sides and refrain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/it-is-only-through-literature-that-one-can-put-oneself-in-someone/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“That first day I asked my students what they thought fiction should accomplish, why one should bother to read fiction at all. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/that-first-day-i-asked-my-students-what-they-thought-fiction-should/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“you cannot just be stubborn against something, you need to be stubborn for something as well”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/you-cannot-just-be-stubborn-against-something-you-need-to-be-stubborn/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/do-not-under-any-circumstances-belittle-a-work-of-fiction-by-trying/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [Visa for Avalon is a testament to the power of fiction. It illuminates the truth at the heart of what is commonly called reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/visa-for-avalon-is-a-testament-to-the-power-of-fiction-it-illuminates/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“You ask me what it means to be irrelevant? The feeling is akin to visiting your old house as a wandering ghost with unfinished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/you-ask-me-what-it-means-to-be-irrelevant-the-feeling-is-akin-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“I explained that most great works of the imagination were meant to make you feel like a stranger in your own home. The best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/i-explained-that-most-great-works-of-the-imagination-were-meant-to/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“We envy people like you, and we want to be you; we can't, so we destroy you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/we-envy-people-like-you-and-we-want-to-be-you-we-can-t-so-we-destroy/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [“..."readers were born free and ought to remain free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/readers-were-born-free-and-ought-to-remain-free/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) [Explore all 182 Azar Nafisi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) ## More Tehran quotes > [If I hear, 'Be afraid of Tehran,' I'm like, 'I'd better go to Tehran.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/if-i-hear-be-afraid-of-tehran-i-m-like-i-d-better-go-to-tehran/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [“On the misty window of her room, she let her finger trace a broken line. She was that line.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azin-sametipour/on-the-misty-window-of-her-room-she-let-her-finger-trace-a-broken/) [Azin Sametipour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azin-sametipour/) > [ In 2009, US President \[Barack\] Obama said that the missile defense only serves as protection from Iranian nuclear missiles. But now there is an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/in-2009-us-president-barack-obama-said-that-the-missile-defense-only/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [In Mexico City, Tehran, Kolkata, Bangkok, Shanghai, and hundreds of other cities, the air is no longer safe to breathe. In some cities, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/in-mexico-city-tehran-kolkata-bangkok-shanghai-and-hundreds-of-other/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [Appeasing the Castro brothers will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/appeasing-the-castro-brothers-will-only-cause-other-tyrants-from/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [A brilliant inquiry into the contemporary Iranian predicament and what it means for the world. At a time when all too many of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/afshin-molavi/a-brilliant-inquiry-into-the-contemporary-iranian-predicament-and/) [Afshin Molavi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/afshin-molavi/) > [The more aggressive our ideologies become, the more aggressive our discourse whether it's in the United States, from Washington D.C., or whether it's from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/the-more-aggressive-our-ideologies-become-the-more-aggressive-our/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Tehran believes it's none of our business or anybody else's to decide the future of personalities in other countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-javad-zarif/tehran-believes-it-s-none-of-our-business-or-anybody-else-s-to-decide/) [Mohammad Javad Zarif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-javad-zarif/) > [“When the day comes that Tehran can announce its nuclear capability, every shred of international law will have been discarded. The mullahs have publicly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/when-the-day-comes-that-tehran-can-announce-its-nuclear-capability/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Argo might well be studied as a bait-and-switch masterwork: In showing the capture of the American Embassy in Tehran, Ben Affleck first made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-edelstein/argo-might-well-be-studied-as-a-bait-and-switch-masterwork-in-showing/) [David Edelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-edelstein/) > [“Secretary of State Clinton dared Iran on Monday to let her hold a town-hall meeting in Tehran.” That’s telling ’em. If the ayatollahs had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/secretary-of-state-clinton-dared-iran-on-monday-to-let-her-hold-a/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [Children whose developing lungs are particularly vulnerable suffer the most from air pollution. For children, breathing the air in cities with the worst pollution,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/children-whose-developing-lungs-are-particularly-vulnerable-suffer/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [America roused to a righteous anger has always been a force for good. States that have been supporting if not Osama bin Laden, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-lowry/america-roused-to-a-righteous-anger-has-always-been-a-force-for-good/) [Rich Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-lowry/) > [I can only hope that Trump comes to realize the grave dangers of adopting a policy of confrontation toward Iran. Among these dangers is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/i-can-only-hope-that-trump-comes-to-realize-the-grave-dangers-of/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [The Arab Spring has heightened the ideological tension between Ankara and Tehran, and Turkey's model seems to be winning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustafa-akyol/the-arab-spring-has-heightened-the-ideological-tension-between-ankara/) [Mustafa Akyol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mustafa-akyol/) [Browse all 42 Tehran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tehran/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than its presences”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Azar Nafisi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were-more-real-than-its-presences/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Tehran" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were-more-real-than-its-presences/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/azar-nafisi-2001_tehran_this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were_1862630.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is Tehran for me: its absences were more real than its presences” — Azar Nafisi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Azar Nafisi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This is Tehran for me: its...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were-more-real-than-its-presences/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/this-is-tehran-for-me-its-absences-were-more-real-than-its-presences/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```