Tahar Ben Jelloun Quotes
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A modern civilization is only possible when it is accepted that singular beings exist and express themselves freely.
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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.
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The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women.
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For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history.
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I liked Sartre's views but not his writing.
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The intellectual, the man of thought, doubt and analysis, should give the best of himself.
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I am a Moroccan writer of French expression.
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We must have our say, not through violence, aggression or fear. We must speak out calmly and forcefully. We shall only be able to enter the new world era if we agree to engage in dialogue with the other side.
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My sensibility steers me toward writers who are out on their own.
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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.
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At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets.
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There is a gulf between the Arab peoples and Arab intellectuals.
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I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer.
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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.
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There are very few great poets in the world.
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I don't feel guilty about expressing myself in French; nor do I feel that I am continuing the work of the colonizers.
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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.
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This universe can very well be expressed in words and syllables which are not those of one's mother tongue.
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I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, humiliation. I know that's not enough to change the world. But to remain silent would have been a kind of intolerable complicity.
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Emigration is no longer a solution; it's a defeat. People are risking death, drowning every day, but they're knocking on doors that are not open.
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We do not have many intellectuals who can speak out for us internationally. We have no writers who are recognized, respected and loved outside the Arab world.
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It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.
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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.
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To lead a country, you must periodically hold a national consultation in which people representing different programmes can make a bid for power.