During my youth, the idea of moving from Lebanon was unthinkable. Then I began to realise I might have to go, like my grandfather, uncles and others who left for America, Egypt, Australia, Cuba.
Amin MaaloufTaking the line of least resistance, we lump the most different people together under the same heading. Taking the line of least resistance, we ascribe to them collective crimes, collective acts and opinions. "The Serbs have massacredโฆ", "The English have devastatedโฆ", "The Jews have confiscatedโฆ", "The Blacks have torched", "The Arabs refuseโฆ". We blithely express sweeping judgments on whole peoples, calling them "hardworking" and "ingenious", or "lazy", "touchy", "sly", "proud", or "obstinate". And sometimes this ends in bloodshed." โ Amin Maalouf "On Identity
Amin MaaloufA life spent writing has taught me to be wary of words. Those that seem clearest are often the most treacherous.
Amin Maalouf