Azar Nafisi Quotes & Sayings

“The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream.”

“The best work of literature to represent the American Dream is 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It shows us how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if you don't compromise, you may suffer.”

“I see people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization, reductionism and superficiality.”

“Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent.”

“You need imagination in order to imagine a future that doesn't exist.”

“America was based on a poetic vision. What will happen when it loses its poetry?”

“This is a good time to ask apologists for the Islamic regime, who degrades Islam? Who imposes stoning, forced marriage of underage girls and flogging for not wearing the veil? Do such practices represent Iran's ancient history and culture, its ethnic and religious diversity? Its centuries of sensual and subversive poetry?”

“Every culture has something to be ashamed of, but every culture also has the right to change, to challenge negative traditions, and create to new ones.”

“Look at Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution and the slogans that they used: anti-imperialism; anti-colonialism; the struggle of the have-nots against the haves; the state monopoly over economy, which was very much patterned after the Soviet Union. All of these things did not come out of Islam. Islam is not that developed.”

“Lots of times you can feel as an exile in a country that you were born in.”