“I wanted my own words. But the ones I use have been dragged through I don’t know how many consciences.”

Nothingness lies coiled in the heart of being – like a worm.

I have no religion, but if I were to choose one, it would be that of Shariati’s.

I’d come to realize that all our troubles spring from our failure to use plain, clear-cut language.

What is there to fear in such a regular world?

People who live in society have learnt how to see themselves, in mirrors, as they appear to their friends. I have no friends: is that why my flesh is so naked?

What is important is not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us.

Being is. Being is in-itself. Being is what it is.

My eyes feel all soft, all soft as flesh. I’m going to sleep.

I suppose it is out of laziness that the world is the same day after day. Today it seemed to want to change. And then anything, anything could happen.

Everything has been figured out, except how to live.

Better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.

One could only damage oneself through the harm one did to others. One could never get directly at oneself.

You must be like me; you must suffer in rhythm.

People are like dice. We throw ourselves in the direction of our own choosing.

I’ve dropped out of their hearts like a little sparrow fallen from its nest. So gather me up, dear, fold me to your heart – and you’ll see how nice I can be.

There may be more beautiful times, but this one is ours.

There is only one thing that remains to us, that cannot be taken away: to act with courage and dignity and to stick to the ideals that have given meaning to life.

Everything is possible at any one competition.

Life is about strategy not tragedy. Make the best one.

One must always try to be as radical as reality itself.

I was always a singer and a dancer, and I always wanted to be an actress. For me, it’s all just one thing.

No one sat me down with a piece of paper and said, This is what is expected of you. But I’m lucky enough in the fact that I have found my role. I love being with people.

A democracy is a state which recognizes the subjection of the minority to the majority, that is, an organization for the systematic use of violence by one class against the other, by one part of the population against another.

Words are one thing – deeds something entirely different. Fine words are a mask to cover shady deeds. A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron.