Quote

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

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Defend
Attack
Society
Individual
Right
Believe
Disagrees
Disagree

More quotes by Naguib Mahfouz

Image
In the calculus of good deeds you have the most to gain.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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
Image
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.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
We are passing through a very sensitive time, and on the whole, this country is facing very big problems.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We are condemned to work with upstarts, clowns who no doubt got their training in a circus and then turned to journalism as the appropriate place to display their tricks.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
Visit me once each year, for it's wrong to abandon people forever.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
I've never worked in politics, never been a member of an official committee or a political party.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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
Image
I am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
If life has no meaning, why don't we create a meaning for it?
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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.
Naguib Mahfouz
Image
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.
Naguib Mahfouz