Naguib Mahfouz Quotes

I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.

I started writing while I was a little boy. Maybe it's because I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday. Also, my love for good writing pushed me.

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.

I love Sufism as I love beautiful poetry, but it is not the answer. Sufism is like a mirage in the desert. It says to you, come and sit, relax and enjoy yourself for a while.

I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.

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.

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.

I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.

I am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way.

I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.

History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.

Happy is he who can give himself up.

God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.

Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story.

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.

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