The noble title of "dissident" must be earned rather than claimed; it connotes sacrifice and risk rather than mere disagreement.

People know when they are being lied to, they know when their rulers are absurd, they know they do not love their chains.

The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law.

There are many, many discrepant views within the Shia theology about what's the proper role of religion in society or in the State, should it rule now, should it claim to govern people in the here and now, or should it wait until the Messiah, the 12th Imam, comes back and would it only be then appropriate for religious rule to bring about a world of universal justice and vindication.

I wrote a piece from North Korea called Visit to a Small Planet which is a line I stole from a play of Gore Vidal's, because it did seem to me as if I had left this planet completely to go on this visit to the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, and it was as if coming back from another spatial body altogether.

I'm an atheist. I'm not neutral about religion, I'm hostile to it. I think it is a positively bad idea, not just a false one. And I mean not just organized religion, but religious belief itself.

A good liar must have a good memory. Kissinger is a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory.