This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Egyptian Author, Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature
"Art is a criticism of society and life, and I believe that if life became perfect, art would be meaningless and cease to exist."
"Life is seething before your eyes; corner stands collapse, illusions evaporate, truths come tottering like bombs, elements disintegrate demanding new components, new vices destroy the walls of muteness and rise, species amalgamate, forces are set free from their hiding places, and conscience asks its possessor to take a stand; Hold on… escape… live… die… complicate yourself… renew yourself… There is no other way than to wade into the waves of darkness and to swim to the shore of light."
"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions."
"The real malady is fear of life, not death."
"According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment."
"An allegory is not meant to be taken literally. There is a great lack of comprehension on the part of some readers."
"At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic."
"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."
"As for Islamic civilization I will not talk about its call for the establishment of a union between all Mankind under the guardianship of the Creator, based on freedom, equality and forgiveness. Nor will I talk about the greatness of its prophet. For among your thinkers there are those who regard him the greatest man in history. I will not talk of its conquests which have planted thousands of minarets calling for worship, devoutness and good throughout great expanses of land from the environs of India and China to the boundaries of France. Nor will I talk of the fraternity between religions and races that has been achieved in its embrace in a spirit of tolerance unknown to Mankind neither before nor since. I will, instead, introduce that civilization in a moving dramatic situation summarizing one of its most conspicuous traits: In one victorious battle against Byzantium it has given back its prisoners of war in return for a number of books of the ancient Greek heritage in philosophy, medicine and mathematics. This is a testimony of value for the human spirit in its demand for knowledge, even though the demander was a believer in God and the demanded a fruit of a pagan civilization."
"Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story."
"Frankly, I am one of those people who have prepared my life well."
"God did not intend religion to be an exercise club."
"He'd been made of stone. There's nothing more heartbreaking than loving someone like that. It had been like a nightingale singing to a rock, a breeze caressing sharp-pointed spikes."
"Hosni Mubarak... his constitution is not democratic, but he is democratic. We can voice our opinions now. The press is free."
"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 am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way."
"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."
"I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace."
"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 have condemned Khomeini's fatwa to kill Salman Rushdie as a breach of international relations and as an assault on Islam as we know it in the era of apostasy. I believe that the wrong done by Khomeini towards Islam and the Muslims is no less than that done by the author himself. As regards freedom of expression, I have said that it must be considered sacred and that thought can only be corrected by counter-thought. During the debate, I supported the boycott of the book as a means of maintaining social peace, granted that such a decision would not be used as a pretext to constrain thought."
"I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature."
"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 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 thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised."
"I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat. At night, I prefer to sit and watch television. Thursdays and Fridays I consider my holiday, when I meet my friends and my literary colleagues."
"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 was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening."
"I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday."
"I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning."
"I wonder if you ever admit, even to yourself, that you betrayed me. Maybe you've deceived yourself as much as you try to deceive others. Hasn't your conscience bothered you even in the dark? I wish I could penetrate your soul."
"If you want to move people, you look for a point of sensitivity, and in Egypt nothing moves people as much as religion."
"If the urge to write should ever leave me, I want that day to be my last."
"Insults are the business of the court."
"If we reject science, we reject the common man."
"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."
"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."
"In spite of all what goes on around us I am committed to optimism until the end. I do not say with Kant that Good will be victorious in the other world. Good is achieving victory every day. It may even be that Evil is weaker than we imagine. In front of us is an indelible proof: were it not for the fact that victory is always on the side of Good, hordes of wandering humans would not have been able in the face of beasts and insects, natural disasters, fear and egotism, to grow and multiply. They would not have been able to form nations, to excel in creativeness and invention, to conquer outer space, and to declare Human Rights. The truth of the matter is that Evil is a loud and boisterous debaucherer, and that Man remembers what hurts more than what pleases. Our great poet Abul-'Alaa' Al-Ma'ari was right when he said: "A grief at the hour of death is more than a hundred-fold. Joy at the hour of birth." I finally reiterate my thanks and ask your forgiveness."
"I've never worked in politics, never been a member of an official committee or a political party."
"My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize."
"My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize."
"The criminal is trying to solve his immediate problems."
"She woke at midnight. She always woke up then without having to rely on an alarm clock. A wish that had taken root in her awoke her with great accuracy. For a few moments she was not sure she was awake. Images from her dreams and perceptions mixed together in her mind. She was troubled by anxiety before opening her eyes, afraid sleep had deceived here. Shaking her head gently, she gazed at the total darkness of the room. There was no clue by which to judge the time."
"One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages."
"The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition."
"Sadat made us feel more secure."
"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."
"The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions."