Quotes from Azar Nafisi

Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.

When I first left Iran at the age of 13, Iran had become such a shining star - it was the point to which all my desires and dreams returned.

I am suddenly left alone again on the sunny path, with a memory of the rain.

Do not, under any circumstances, belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we search for in fiction is not so much reality but the epiphany of truth.

Art is as useful as bread.

People would react to books by authors like James and Austen almost on a gut level. I think it was not so much the message, because the best authors do not have obvious messages. These authors were disturbing to my students because of their perspectives on life.

It takes courage to die for a cause, but also to live for one.

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

I'm a perfectly equipped failure.

With fear come the lies and the justifications that, no matter how convincing, lower our self-esteem.

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