The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art.

I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.

Hosni Mubarak... his constitution is not democratic, but he is democratic. We can voice our opinions now. The press is free.

The heart is a place of secrets.

I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat.

I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning.

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.