30+ Tahar Ben Jelloun Quotes (Insightful, Poetic And Provocative)

Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan writer, poet, and playwright. He is known for his novels and poetry that explore themes of racism, alienation, and the search for identity. His works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have earned him numerous awards, including the Prix Goncourt in 1987.

Top 10 Tahar Ben Jelloun Quotes

1. My hope is that countries like Morocco will have investment to create work, so people don't have to leave.
2. We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world.
3. This universe can very well be expressed in words and syllables which are not those of one's mother tongue.
4. An individual voice can be heard in a choir that otherwise sings in unison. This is something that is not excused.
5. Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.
10. My sensibility steers me toward writers who are out on their own.

Tahar Ben Jelloun Short Quotes

• For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history.
• My characters are driven by a passionate desire for justice. They are rebellious and incorruptible.
• Beauty is first and foremost an emotion.
• Poetry is a form of mathematics, a highly rigorous relationship with words.
• I am a Moroccan writer of French expression.
• At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets.
• I liked Sartre's views but not his writing.
• Religion has to stay in the heart, not in politics. It is private.
• I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer.

Tahar Ben Jelloun Famous Quotes And Sayings

Most of those who died did not die of hunger but of hatred. Feeling hatred diminishes you. It eats at your from within and attacks the immune system. When you have hatred inside you, it always crushes you in the end. — Tahar Ben Jelloun

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. — Tahar Ben Jelloun

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. — 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

There is an important erotic element in A Thousand and One Nights, which is one of the keys to understanding the Orient. — 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

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

I am glad to have found a readership, but one can’t write only what is likely to sell. A writer is not a shopkeeper. A writer creates an imaginary world that he transmits to others. — Tahar Ben Jelloun

Our steps invent the path as we proceed; behind us they leave no trace, only the void. So we shall always look ahead and trust our feet. They will take us as far as our minds will go... -- Tahar ben Jelloun — 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

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

Life Lessons by Tahar Ben Jelloun

1. Tahar Ben Jelloun's work emphasizes the importance of understanding the perspectives of people from different backgrounds and cultures.
2. He also emphasizes the power of storytelling to share experiences and create empathy.
3. His work encourages readers to think critically about the world around them and to challenge existing power structures.