In the Arab world, there is no link between the cultural habits of peoples and the ways of thinking and creating of modern intellectuals. They are two separate worlds. Tahar Ben Jelloun More Quotes by Tahar Ben Jelloun More Quotes From Tahar Ben Jelloun My hope is that countries like Morocco will have investment to create work, so people don't have to leave. Tahar Ben Jelloun moroccocountrypeople The mistake we make is to attribute to religions the errors and fanaticism of human beings. Tahar Ben Jelloun umpireserrorsmistake Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare - and precious as a pearl. Tahar Ben Jelloun realbest-friendfriendship Beauty is first and foremost an emotion. Tahar Ben Jelloun emotionfirsts We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world. Tahar Ben Jelloun victimwestworld I am a guest of the French language. My poems in French are born of my interaction with the French language, which is not the same as that of a French poet. Tahar Ben Jelloun poetlanguageguests 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 Tahar Ben Jelloun feetmindlooks I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer. Tahar Ben Jelloun prayingprayernight I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, humiliation. I know that's not enough to change the world. But to remain silent would have been a kind of intolerable complicity. Tahar Ben Jelloun injusticeworldneeds It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn. Tahar Ben Jelloun acceptingcountrypeople My sensibility steers me toward writers who are out on their own. Tahar Ben Jelloun steerssensibilitybedtime Religion has to stay in the heart, not in politics. It is private. Tahar Ben Jelloun heart There is an important erotic element in A Thousand and One Nights, which is one of the keys to understanding the Orient. Tahar Ben Jelloun understandingkeysnight We have no Arab intellectuals of international stature because we live in a state of generalized mediocrity. We are suspended in the pit without touching the bottom. Tahar Ben Jelloun pitsmediocritytouching For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history. Tahar Ben Jelloun situationstatesway I write about wounds, the eternal treasons of life. It's not very funny, but it's sincere. My commitment is to sincerity. Tahar Ben Jelloun writingfunnycommitment Most of those who died did not die of hunger but of hatred. Feeling hatred diminishes you. It eats at your from within and attacks the immune system. When you have hatred inside you, it always crushes you in the end. Tahar Ben Jelloun crushhatredfeelings Poetry is a form of mathematics, a highly rigorous relationship with words. Tahar Ben Jelloun mathematicsformrelationship Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever. Tahar Ben Jelloun achievelastsforever The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women. Tahar Ben Jelloun viewsmenpeople
