Quotes By Tahar Ben Jelloun
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.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
What have we achieved since the end of the Second World War? We have allowed petty, bourgeois regimes in which everything is average, mediocre.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
In the '70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
I belong to a specific category of writers, those who speak and write in a language different from that of their parents.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
I do not use the language of my people. I can take liberties with certain themes which the Arabic language would not allow me to take.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
The world does not look to us in the Arab world out of a healthy desire for knowledge.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
To lead a country, you must periodically hold a national consultation in which people representing different programmes can make a bid for power.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
An individual voice can be heard in a choir that otherwise sings in unison. This is something that is not excused.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
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.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
In Morocco, it's possible to see the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
I have written about the dispossessed, immigrants, the condition of women who do not enjoy the same legal rights as men, the Palestinians who are deprived of their land and condemned to exile.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
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.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
A modern civilization is only possible when it is accepted that singular beings exist and express themselves freely.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
My characters are driven by a passionate desire for justice. They are rebellious and incorruptible.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
My hope is that countries like Morocco will have investment to create work, so people don't have to leave.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
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.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
I write about wounds, the eternal treasons of life. It's not very funny, but it's sincere. My commitment is to sincerity.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
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.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
We have no Arab intellectuals of international stature because we live in a state of generalized mediocrity. We are suspended in the pit without touching the bottom.
Tahar Ben Jelloun
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.
Tahar Ben Jelloun