We are passing through a very sensitive time, and on the whole, this country is facing very big problems.

The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.

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

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.

Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life.

Only the poor are handicapped by honor.

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