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
I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday.
We wont develop until we accept that reading is a vital necessity.
My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize.
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.
The Arab world also won the Nobel with me.
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.
A priest's life is spent between question and answer-- or between a question and the attempt to answer it. The question is the summary of the spiritual life.
I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.