In Morocco, it's possible to see the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time.

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 am glad to have found a readership, but one can’t write only what is likely to sell. A writer is not a shopkeeper. A writer creates an imaginary world that he transmits to others.

It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.

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

I belong to a specific category of writers, those who speak and write in a language different from that of their parents.

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