Naguib Mahfouz Quotes
Top 90 wise famous quotes and sayings by Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz Famous Quotes & Sayings
Discover top inspirational quotes from Naguib Mahfouz on Wise Famous Quotes.
I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.
It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.
In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.
I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.
Why don't we keep track of the happy moments, so that afterward we will believe them? Is he the same man Was he really sincere?
Art is a criticism of society and life, and I believe that if life became perfect, art would be meaningless and cease to exist.
The calendar has a magic that makes us imagine a memory can be resurrected and revived, but nothing returns.
Freedom of expression must be considered sacred and thought can only be corrected by counter thought.
We used the Western style to express our own themes and stories. But don't forget that our heritage includes The Thousand and One Nights.
According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment.
I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.
Winning Nobel imposed on me a lifestyle to which I am not used and which I would not have preferred.
We are passing through a very sensitive time, and on the whole, this country is facing very big problems.
One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.
Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life.
They had a relaxed look about them, appropriate for people going to a peaceful demonstration sanctioned by the authorities.
It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.
He seemed to be waiting for a miracle to save him from the depths his life had reached and take him to a land of dreams.
Falseness in life is the secret that makes man's inner self a rare truth; it hides from him although it's obvious to all.
I was afraid of marriage. I had the impression married life would take up all my time. I saw myself drowning in visits and parties. No freedom.
After living for a month in his home, her character had been infected with the virus of submission to his will, which terrified everyone in the house.
History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.
I reject any path which rejects life, but I can't help loving Sufism because it sounds so beautiful. It gives relief in the midst of battle.
If you want to move people, you look for a point of sensitivity, and in Egypt nothing moves people as much as religion.
As the tension eases, we must look in the direction of agriculture, industry and education as our final goals, and toward democracy under Mr Mubarak.
There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see.
An allegory is not meant to be taken literally. There is a great lack of comprehension on the part of some readers.
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.
Despite dissimilarities in our luck and success at looking after ourselves, we are all human beings.
You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
There is no alternative to action, and that requires faith. The issue is how we are to mold for ourselves a belief system that is worthy of life.
Paraphrasing..Science is the language of the intellect of society. Art is language of the entire human personality.
I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.
The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level.
Hosni Mubarak ... his constitution is not democratic, but he is democratic. We can voice our opinions now. The press is free.