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

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

A modern civilization is only possible when it is accepted that singular beings exist and express themselves freely.

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.

At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets.

In the 70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away.

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