Naguib Mahfouz's Quotes

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.

My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize.

God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.

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

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

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

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.

I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

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.

I started writing while I was a little boy. Maybe it's because I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday. Also, my love for good writing pushed me.

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.

Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story.

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

It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.

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.

History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.

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

Insults are the business of the court.

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

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

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

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

I am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way.

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

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