At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic. Naguib Mahfouz More Quotes by Naguib Mahfouz More Quotes From Naguib Mahfouz Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease. Naguib Mahfouz ceasebornhome You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions. Naguib Mahfouz leadershipwiseinspirational Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life. Naguib Mahfouz i-hate-youhatedoe It's a most distressing affliction to have a sentimental heart and a skeptical mind. Naguib Mahfouz afflictionmindheart As for life's tragedies, our love will defeat them. Love is the most effective cure. In the crevices of disasters, happiness lies like a diamond in a mind, so let us instill in ourselves the wisdom of love. Naguib Mahfouz mindlove-islying I found myself in a sea in which the waves of joy and sorrow were clashing against each other. Naguib Mahfouz sorrowseajoy Madness is the acme of intelligence. Naguib Mahfouz madness For the first time in my life, I felt that a wave, a justice was sweeping away a deep-seated decay without any indulgence. I dearly wished that it would keep going without hesitation or deviation, in a spirit of purity forever. Naguib Mahfouz decayforeverjustice I believe in life and in people. I feel obliged to advocate their highest ideals as long as I believe them to be true. I also see myself compelled to revolt against ideals I believe to be false, since recoiling from rebellion would be a form of treason Naguib Mahfouz longbelievepeople Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life. Naguib Mahfouz lifepeoplereligion If life has no meaning, why don't we create a meaning for it? Naguib Mahfouz life-has-no-meaningifs The calendar has a magic that makes us imagine a memory can be resurrected and revived, but nothing returns. Naguib Mahfouz calendarsmagicmemories Freedom of expression must be considered sacred and thought can only be corrected by counter thought. Naguib Mahfouz freedom-of-expressionsacredexpression You know what I'm afraid of? That God is sick of us. Naguib Mahfouz sickknows When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day, that week ... I write stories the same way. Events at home, in school, at work, in the street, these are the bases for a story. Some experiences leave such a deep impression that instead of talking about them at the club I work them into a novel. Naguib Mahfouz homewritingschool When will the state of the country be sound?... When its people believe that the end result of cowardice is more disastrous than that of behaving with integrity. Naguib Mahfouz integritybelievecountry Only the poor are handicapped by honor. Naguib Mahfouz handicappedpoorhonor Nothing records the effects of a sad life so graphically as the human body. Naguib Mahfouz sad-liferecordsbody The heart is a place of secrets. Naguib Mahfouz secretheart I am the son of two civilizations that at a certain age in history have formed a happy marriage. The first of these, seven thousand years old, is the Pharaonic civilization; the second, one thousand four hundred years old, is the Islamic civilization. Naguib Mahfouz islamicyearsson
