Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever.

Our steps invent the path as we proceed; behind us they leave no trace, only the void. So we shall always look ahead and trust our feet. They will take us as far as our minds will go... -- Tahar ben Jelloun

I have written about the dispossessed, immigrants, the condition of women who do not enjoy the same legal rights as men, the Palestinians who are deprived of their land and condemned to exile.

My characters are driven by a passionate desire for justice. They are rebellious and incorruptible.

Poetry is a form of mathematics, a highly rigorous relationship with words.

I don't feel guilty about expressing myself in French; nor do I feel that I am continuing the work of the colonizers.

Intellectuals try to keep going. But their situation is very difficult. Those who have had the courage to voice their opposition have often paid a very high price.