Beauty is first and foremost an emotion.

The mistake we make is to attribute to religions the errors and fanaticism of human beings.

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

There is an important erotic element in A Thousand and One Nights, which is one of the keys to understanding the Orient.

To lead a country, you must periodically hold a national consultation in which people representing different programmes can make a bid for power.

For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history.

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