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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.

Naguib Mahfouz

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Naguib Mahfouz
Age: 94 †
Born: 1911
Born: December 11
Died: 2006
Died: August 30
Artist
Autobiographer
Film Writer
Intellectual
Journalist
Novelist
Playwright
Screenwriter
Short Story Writer
Translator
Writer
Cairo
Egypt
Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha
Society
Freedom
Differing
Natural
Counter
Right
Defend
Must
Price
Way
Pay
Things
Expression
Literature

More quotes by Naguib Mahfouz

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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.
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Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.
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In the calculus of good deeds you have the most to gain.
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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.
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I am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way.
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Only the poor are handicapped by honor.
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Visit me once each year, for it's wrong to abandon people forever.
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I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.
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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
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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.
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Today's interpretations of religion are often backward and contradict the needs of civilization.
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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
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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.
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Madness is the acme of intelligence.
Naguib Mahfouz
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The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art.
Naguib Mahfouz
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I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.
Naguib Mahfouz
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It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.
Naguib Mahfouz
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The criminal is trying to solve his immediate problems.
Naguib Mahfouz
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It's not surprising that truly humanitarian manifestos originate frequently in minority circles or with people whose consciences are troubled by the problems of minorities.
Naguib Mahfouz
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We are like a woman with a difficult pregnancy. We have to rebuild the social classes in Egypt, and we must change the way things were.
Naguib Mahfouz