 The intellectual, the man of thought, doubt and analysis, should give the best of himself. |
| In the Arab world, there is no link between the cultural habits of peoples and the ways of thinking and creating of modern intellectuals. They are two separate worlds. |
| I liked Sartre's views but not his writing. |
| Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever. |
| People must insist on the right to say no, to be alone, to stand out from the herd. Creative artists can say all this in their own way and in their own field, by hard, rigorous work. |
| Poetry is not only a set of words which are chosen to relate to each other; it is something which goes much further than that to provide a glimpse of our vision of the world. |
| The world does not look to us in the Arab world out of a healthy desire for knowledge. |
| In Morocco, it's possible to see the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time. |
| I am a guest of the French language. My poems in French are born of my interaction with the French language, which is not the same as that of a French poet. |
| An individual voice can be heard in a choir that otherwise sings in unison. This is something that is not excused. |
| Intellectuals try to keep going. But their situation is very difficult. Those who have had the courage to voice their opposition have often paid a very high price. |
| New ideas should confront old ideas. We must refer to the example of Europe. People have fought to make Europe what it is today. Freedom is not something that is served up on a plate. |
| It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn. |
| Egypt has suffered more ordeals than the other countries to get where it is. |
| We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world. |
| It is impossible to disregard such an important medium as television. We should know how to use it, learn to work in it and express new values in it. |
| Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare - and precious as a pearl. Topics: Inspirational |
| What have we achieved since the end of the Second World War? We have allowed petty, bourgeois regimes in which everything is average, mediocre. |
| I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer. |
| In the '70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away. |
