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
When will the state of the country be sound?... When its people believe that the end result of cowardice is more disastrous than that of behaving with integrity.
I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.
Art is a criticism of society and life, and I believe that if life became perfect, art would be meaningless and cease to exist.
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.
I believe in life and in people. I feel obliged to advocate their highest ideals as long as I believe them to be true. I also see myself compelled to revolt against ideals I believe to be false, since recoiling from rebellion would be a form of treason
The Arab world also won the Nobel with me.
I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday.
It's not surprising that truly humanitarian manifestos originate frequently in minority circles or with people whose consciences are troubled by the problems of minorities.
History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.
As the tension eases, we must look in the direction of agriculture, industry and education as our final goals, and toward democracy under Mr Mubarak.
In the calculus of good deeds you have the most to gain.
I am the son of two civilizations that at a certain age in history have formed a happy marriage. The first of these, seven thousand years old, is the Pharaonic civilization; the second, one thousand four hundred years old, is the Islamic civilization.
I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.
If we reject science, we reject the common man.