I confront the European elite’s self-image as tolerant ‘while under their noses women are living like slaves.
AYAAN HIRSI ALIMy brother thinks it is very, very bad that I left Islam. My half-sister wants to convert me back; I want to convert her to Western values. My mum is terrified that when I die, and we all go to God, I will be burned.
More Ayaan Hirsi Ali Quotes
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In a sense, my grandmother was living in the Iron Age. There was no system of writing among the nomads. Metal artifacts were rare and precious…. The first time she saw a white person my grandmother was in her thirties: she thought this person’s skin had burned off.
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Let us recognize that we can no longer tolerate violent oppression of women in the name of religion and culture any more than we would tolerate violent oppression espoused by any other bully in the name of a twisted rationale.
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I don’t have much in me left for Somalia, because the country is so broken, it’s not realistic to daydream about it.
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Avoiding offense means that we don’t accept each other as equals.
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I do not believe in God, angels and the hereafter.
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All my life I have been a nomad.
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People ask me if I have some kind of death wish, to keep saying the things I do. The answer is no: I would like to keep living. However, some things must be said, and there are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice.
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I come from a world where the word ‘trauma’ doesn’t exist, because we are too poor. I didn’t have an easy life compared to the average European. But compared to the average African, it wasn’t all that bad.
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If we don’t take effective measures now, the Netherlands could be torn between two extreme rights.
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There is a huge difference between being tolerant and tolerating intolerance.
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My first experience in the Netherlands was very pleasant, extremely pleasant. I mean, I got my residence permit, refugee status, within four weeks of arrival. People treated me extremely well.
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The liberal psyche wants to protect minorities, to apologize for imperialism, colonialism, slavery, and the appalling treatment of black people during the civil rights movement. At the same time, they want to continue to defend the rights of individuals.
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The West is duly terrified. But it should not be surprised.
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In 1985 as a teenager in Kenya, I was an adamant member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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I wanted secular, non-Muslim people to stop kidding themselves that Islam is peace and tolerance.
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Drinking wine and wearing trousers were nothing compared to reading the history of ideas.
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Where there is no freedom of speech, there is no conscience.
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Bear true witness, even if it be against yourselves, your parents or your family.
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The more we oblige, the more we self-censor, the more we appease, the bolder the enemy gets.
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I think of Canada, first and foremost, in terms of space. The amount of space available is breathtaking.
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I would like to be judged on the validity of my arguments, not as a victim.
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I call myself a liberal – a classical liberal as in John Stuart Mill.
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In April 2006, a Dutch court ordered that I leave my safe-home that I was renting from the State. The judge concluded that my neighbors had a right to argue that they felt unsafe because of my presence in the building.
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The idea that if people are just friendly and demonstrate they want peace, that will be answered with good will – that is really naive.
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After the horrific massacre Wednesday at the French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, perhaps the West will finally put away its legion of useless tropes trying to deny the relationship between violence and radical Islam.
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Americans have always welcomed people of all backgrounds, religions, and races. It’s a spirit of tolerance, now energized and amplified by the cult of multiculturalism.
AYAAN HIRSI ALI