I have no religion, but if I were to choose one, it would be that of Shariati's.

The sun is not ridiculous, quite the contrary. On everything I like, on the rust of the construction girders, on the rotten boards of the fence, a miserly, uncertain light falls, like the look you give, after a sleepless night, on decisions made with enthusiasm the day before, on pages you have written in one spurt without crossing out a word.

I must be without remorse or regrets as I am without excuse; for from the instant of my upsurge into being, I carry the weight of the world by myself alone without help, engaged in a world for which I bear the whole responsibility without being able, whatever I do, to tear myself away from this responsibility for an instant.

It is meaningless that we are born, it is meaningless that we die.

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.

Total war is no longer war waged by all members of one national community against all those of another. It is total... because it may well involve the whole world.

We cannot withdraw our cards from the game. Were we as silent and mute as stones, our very passivity would be an act.