I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.

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

I believe in life and in people. I feel obliged to advocate their highest ideals as long as I believe them to be true. I also see myself compelled to revolt against ideals I believe to be false, since recoiling from rebellion would be a form of treason

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

Insults are the business of the court.

The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions.

Without literature my life would be miserable.