Quotes By Naguib Mahfouz

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.

In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.

We are passing through a very sensitive time, and on the whole, this country is facing very big problems.

There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see.

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.

I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.

The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions.

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.

It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.

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.

I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning.

If you want to move people, you look for a point of sensitivity, and in Egypt nothing moves people as much as religion.

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.

I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.

Without literature my life would be miserable.

I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday.

My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize.

I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.

An allegory is not meant to be taken literally. There is a great lack of comprehension on the part of some readers.

I love Sufism as I love beautiful poetry, but it is not the answer. Sufism is like a mirage in the desert. It says to you, come and sit, relax and enjoy yourself for a while.

According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment.

The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art.

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.

Hosni Mubarak... his constitution is not democratic, but he is democratic. We can voice our opinions now. The press is free.

God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.

Sadat made us feel more secure.

I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.

I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.

I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat.