Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouzwas an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. He published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films...
NationalityEgyptian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth11 December 1911
CityCairo, Egypt
CountryEgypt
Art is a criticism of society and life, and I believe that if life became perfect, art would be meaningless and cease to exist.
According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment.
At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.
The real malady is fear of life, not of death
The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions.
The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.
The writer interweaves a story with his own doubts, questions, and values. That is art.
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.
Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We are condemned to work with upstarts, clowns who no doubt got their training in a circus and then turned to journalism as the appropriate place to display their tricks.
Happy is he who can give himself up.
When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day, that week ... I write stories the same way. Events at home, in school, at work, in the street, these are the bases for a story. Some experiences leave such a deep impression that instead of talking about them at the club I work them into a novel.
Nothing records the effects of a sad life so graphically as the human body.
Madness is the acme of intelligence.
"Death by love is fairer by far than death by illness", said Amenhotep III.