It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom. Azar Nafisi More Quotes by Azar Nafisi More Quotes From Azar Nafisi The existence of the writer is to write, and to write is to tell the truth. Azar Nafisi women telling-the-truth writing Khatami is a symptom and not the cause of change in Iran. Azar Nafisi symptoms iran causes If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order to survive, to protect some aspect of myself that was now in constant retreat. Azar Nafisi sanctuary order book We speak of facts, yet facts exist only partially to us if they are not repeated and re-created through emotions, thoughts and feelings. To me it seemed as if we had not really existed, or only half existed, because we could not imaginatively realize ourselves and communicate to the world, because we had used works of imagination to serve as handmaidens to some political ploy. Azar Nafisi political imagination feelings The dearer a book was to my heart, the more battered and bruised it became. Azar Nafisi motivational inspirational book Visa for Avalon is a testament to the power of fiction. It illuminates the truth at the heart of what is commonly called reality. This account of lives transformed and ruined by the triumph of a totalitarian rule is a timely reminder of how moral and intellectual laziness and apathy can pave the road to the reign of terror brought on by such a system. Azar Nafisi intellectual heart reality What dazzles us in Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra are not the alluring mythologies about the evasive queen, but the astonishing if rare historical facts that Schiff has meticulously and lovingly excavated. Schiff offers not just Cleopatra's story but the story of an amazing era, one that has vanished but still affects us, questioning the way we look at myth, history, and ourselves. Azar Nafisi queens historical looks What we search for in fiction is not so much reality, but the epiphany of truth. Azar Nafisi epiphany reality fiction When I first left Iran at the age of 13, Iran had become such a shining star - it was the point to which all my desires and dreams returned. Azar Nafisi iran stars dream When I was teaching at the University of Tehran we were struggling against the implementation of the revolution rules. Azar Nafisi revolution teaching struggle I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access to imagination. Azar Nafisi bills imagination rights Art is no longer snobbish or cowardly. It teaches peasants to use tractors, gives lyrics to young soldiers, designs textiles for factory women's dresses, writes burlesque for factory theatres, does a hundred other useful tasks. Art is as usueful as bread. Azar Nafisi writing giving art Basically, fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon. In the same way that Hitler evoked a mythological religion of German purity and the glory of the past, the Islamists use religion to evoke emotions and passions in people who have been oppressed for a long time in order to reach their purpose. Azar Nafisi passion order past Lots of times you can feel as an exile in a country that you were born in. Azar Nafisi exile born country The best work of literature to represent the American Dream is 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It shows us how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if you don't compromise, you may suffer. Azar Nafisi suffering dream reality The stories from Iran's present and past are reminders that freedom, democracy and human rights, or fundamentalism, fascism and terrorism are not geographically and culturally determined, but universal. Azar Nafisi iran rights past Those in the west who dismiss the repressiveness of laws against women in countries like Iran, no matter how benign their intentions, present a condescending view not just of the religion but also of women living in Muslim majority countries, as if the desire for choice and happiness is the monopoly of women in the west. Azar Nafisi iran views country This is a good time to ask apologists for the Islamic regime, who degrades Islam? Who imposes stoning, forced marriage of underage girls and flogging for not wearing the veil? Do such practices represent Iran's ancient history and culture, its ethnic and religious diversity? Its centuries of sensual and subversive poetry? Azar Nafisi islamic girl religious My passion has always been books and literature, and teaching. Azar Nafisi passion teaching book People would react to books by authors like James and Austen almost on a gut level. I think it was not so much the message, because the best authors do not have obvious messages. These authors were disturbing to my students because of their perspectives on life. Azar Nafisi best think life people
