I wanted to do my artistic work, and in Iran you have censorship. It was difficult for me to do the work I wanted to do.

You never have these moments that, you know, are always perfect. Always something happens.

Writing is not for me. I completely lose my sense of humor when I write. I become extremely pathetic, very sensational. Images give me possibilities that I don't have with words.

I was a child who had a life, who had hopes, and I wished that a bomb would not fall on my head.

This clash of the culture, East and the West, us and them, Muslim and Christian, does not exist.

I respect humanity. That's my religion. I can't stand these religions that are really businesses. So much money everywhere that's going to buy a really nice house in heaven - or what? I don't get it.

In all the dictatorships, there's such a non-understanding of what human beings are. I mean, if you believe in the Bible, you have the story of Adam and Eve and God tells them, "Do whatever you want. The only thing you shouldn't do is eat the apple." What do they do the first thing? They eat the apple. So if you know a little bit the psychology of human beings, you have to understand that if you say something you should not do, then everybody wants to do it.