With fear come the lies and the justifications that, no matter how convincing, lower our self-esteem.

The more we die, the stronger we will become

I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access to imagination.

The reason I am so popular is that I give others back what they need to find in themselves. You need me not because I tell you what I want you to do but because I articulate and justify what you want to do.

Visa for Avalon is a testament to the power of fiction. It illuminates the truth at the heart of what is commonly called reality. This account of lives transformed and ruined by the triumph of a totalitarian rule is a timely reminder of how moral and intellectual laziness and apathy can pave the road to the reign of terror brought on by such a system.

The dearer a book was to my heart, the more battered and bruised it became.

When I first left Iran at the age of 13, Iran had become such a shining star - it was the point to which all my desires and dreams returned.