It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.

The calendar has a magic that makes us imagine a memory can be resurrected and revived, but nothing returns.

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.

If life has no meaning, why don't we create a meaning for it?

I was afraid of marriage. I had the impression married life would take up all my time. I saw myself drowning in visits and parties. No freedom.

I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.