top of page

Quotes by Iranian Authors

"Lots of times you can feel as an exile in a country that you were born in."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Azar Nafisi
"Lots of times you can feel as an exile in a country that you were born in."
Share on Facebook_Black.png
Share on X_edited.png
Painting Icon
20
"They filled our world with weapons aimed at foreheads and smiled as they shot 16 candles right through our future. They killed those strong enough to fight back and locked up the freaks who failed to live up to their utopian expectations."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"They filled our world with weapons aimed at foreheads and smiled as they shot 16 candles right through our future. They killed those strong enough to fight back and locked up the freaks who failed to live up to their utopian expectations."
"Alice jumped from flagstone to flagstone, her face caught in the rainlight glow, her hand grasping for a touch of gold. The towns excitement was contagious, and the air was so thick with promise Alice could almost bite into it."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"Alice jumped from flagstone to flagstone, her face caught in the rainlight glow, her hand grasping for a touch of gold. The towns excitement was contagious, and the air was so thick with promise Alice could almost bite into it."
"The Sun is an arrogant thing, always leaving the world behind when it tires of us. The Moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It's always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Everyday it's a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of life. The Moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"The Sun is an arrogant thing, always leaving the world behind when it tires of us. The Moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It's always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Everyday it's a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of life. The Moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections."
"I peek up at his features, at the crooked grin i want to savor, at the color in his eyes i'd use to paint a million pictures."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"I peek up at his features, at the crooked grin i want to savor, at the color in his eyes i'd use to paint a million pictures."
"I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction."
"I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe."
"The words get easier the moment you stop fearing them."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"The words get easier the moment you stop fearing them."
"A tired starving dog so thin and frail it looks like it could be knocked over by the wind. But it's staring at me. Unafraid. Mouth opened. Tongue lolling. I want to laugh out loud. I glanced around quickly before scooping the dog into my arms. I don't need to give my father anymore reasons to castrate me, and I don't trust my soldiers not to report something like this. That I would play with the dog."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"A tired starving dog so thin and frail it looks like it could be knocked over by the wind. But it's staring at me. Unafraid. Mouth opened. Tongue lolling. I want to laugh out loud. I glanced around quickly before scooping the dog into my arms. I don't need to give my father anymore reasons to castrate me, and I don't trust my soldiers not to report something like this. That I would play with the dog."
"My mind is a warehouse of carefully organized human emotions.I lock away the things that do not serve me."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"My mind is a warehouse of carefully organized human emotions.I lock away the things that do not serve me."
"Writing poems is simply an excuse to remember You."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Writing poems is simply an excuse to remember You."
"Alice couldn't explain why, exactly, but she knew now that things had changed between them. Oliver had become her friend in an absolute, uncomplicated way. She was done fighting him, and he was done lying to her."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"Alice couldn't explain why, exactly, but she knew now that things had changed between them. Oliver had become her friend in an absolute, uncomplicated way. She was done fighting him, and he was done lying to her."
"I'm wearing dead cotton on my limbs and a blush of roses on my face."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"I'm wearing dead cotton on my limbs and a blush of roses on my face."
"Like the cotton-carder who combs tangled cotton into a long bundle of fibre, you take all my knotted fragments and comb them into light."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Like the cotton-carder who combs tangled cotton into a long bundle of fibre, you take all my knotted fragments and comb them into light."
"She'd decided long ago that life was a long journey. She would be strong and she would be weak, and both would be okay."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"She'd decided long ago that life was a long journey. She would be strong and she would be weak, and both would be okay."
"Kenji has a hand pressed to his mouth, desperately trying to suppress a smile. He's shaking his head, holding up a hand in apology. And then he breaks, laughing out loud, snorting as he tries to muffle the sound. "I'm sorry, he says, pressing his lips together, shaking his head again. "This is not a funny moment. It's not. I'm not laughing."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"Kenji has a hand pressed to his mouth, desperately trying to suppress a smile. He's shaking his head, holding up a hand in apology. And then he breaks, laughing out loud, snorting as he tries to muffle the sound. "I'm sorry, he says, pressing his lips together, shaking his head again. "This is not a funny moment. It's not. I'm not laughing."
"And he leans in, so carefully. Breathing and not breathing and hearts beating between us and he's so close, he's so close and I can't feel my legs anymore. I can't feel my fingers or the cold or the emptiness of this room because all I feel is him, everywhere, filling everything and he whispers"Please."He says, "Please don't shoot me for this."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"And he leans in, so carefully. Breathing and not breathing and hearts beating between us and he's so close, he's so close and I can't feel my legs anymore. I can't feel my fingers or the cold or the emptiness of this room because all I feel is him, everywhere, filling everything and he whispers"Please."He says, "Please don't shoot me for this."
"Please," he says. "I'm begging you to stop."I still. "I can't stomach your pain," he says. "I can feel it so strongly and it's making me crazy- please," he says to me. "Don't be sad. Or hurt. Or guilty. You've done nothing wrong." "I'm sorry-""Don't be sorry, either," he says. "God, the only reason I'm not going to kill Kent for this is because I know it would only upset you more."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"Please," he says. "I'm begging you to stop."I still. "I can't stomach your pain," he says. "I can feel it so strongly and it's making me crazy- please," he says to me. "Don't be sad. Or hurt. Or guilty. You've done nothing wrong." "I'm sorry-""Don't be sorry, either," he says. "God, the only reason I'm not going to kill Kent for this is because I know it would only upset you more."
"Seduce yourself first."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Seduce yourself first."
"The real war is not between the West and the East. The real war is between intelligent and stupid people."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Marjane Satrapi
"The real war is not between the West and the East. The real war is between intelligent and stupid people."
Share on Facebook_Black.png
Share on X_edited.png
Painting Icon
13
"Art doesn't give rise to anything in us that isn't already there. It simply stirs our curious consciousness and sparks a fire that illuminates who we have always wanted to be."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Art doesn't give rise to anything in us that isn't already there. It simply stirs our curious consciousness and sparks a fire that illuminates who we have always wanted to be."
"The first writing of the human being was drawing, not writing."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Marjane Satrapi
"The first writing of the human being was drawing, not writing."
"Image is an international language."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Marjane Satrapi
"Image is an international language."
Share on Facebook_Black.png
Share on X_edited.png
Painting Icon
13
"All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart."
"Love is our religion. Love is our light. It is the only thing that gives us any hope."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Love is our religion. Love is our light. It is the only thing that gives us any hope."
"There is nothing to fear. Nothing to worry about. Grieve nothing in this transitory world," he says softly."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"There is nothing to fear. Nothing to worry about. Grieve nothing in this transitory world," he says softly."
"I will speak of love until you go mad and join me in my mad worship of love."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"I will speak of love until you go mad and join me in my mad worship of love."
"Of course I remember you." My voice is a strangled whisper. I squeeze my eyes shut. "You were the only one who ever looked at me like a human being."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"Of course I remember you." My voice is a strangled whisper. I squeeze my eyes shut. "You were the only one who ever looked at me like a human being."
"Maybe love at first sight isn't what we think it is. Maybe it's recognising a soul we loved in a past life and falling in love with them again."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Maybe love at first sight isn't what we think it is. Maybe it's recognising a soul we loved in a past life and falling in love with them again."
"Love fills the infinite."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Love fills the infinite."
"Know this: whenever you think of leaving, a part of you has already left. But it's never too late to get it back."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Know this: whenever you think of leaving, a part of you has already left. But it's never too late to get it back."
"She could see all of Ferenwood from here: the rolling hills, the endless explosion of color cascading down and across the lush landscape. Reds and blues: Maroon and ceruleans. Yellow and tangerine and violet and aquamarine. Every hue held a flavor, a heartbeat, a life. She took a deep breath and drew it all in."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"She could see all of Ferenwood from here: the rolling hills, the endless explosion of color cascading down and across the lush landscape. Reds and blues: Maroon and ceruleans. Yellow and tangerine and violet and aquamarine. Every hue held a flavor, a heartbeat, a life. She took a deep breath and drew it all in."
"Truth is unoriginal."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Truth is unoriginal."
"I only wrote prose before I met you. My musings were superfluous and serious as well. But now the words dance with me. I sing with them and we create poetry."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"I only wrote prose before I met you. My musings were superfluous and serious as well. But now the words dance with me. I sing with them and we create poetry."
"Usually, when I dream of flying I am simply flapping my arms and somehow I lift off and glide through the sky. Last night was different. I missed you so much and my yearning was so powerful that I sprouted wings like a phoenix and soared to reach you. And now I finally understand: if you see lovers on a roof, do not worry. Surely, love has metamorphosed them."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Usually, when I dream of flying I am simply flapping my arms and somehow I lift off and glide through the sky. Last night was different. I missed you so much and my yearning was so powerful that I sprouted wings like a phoenix and soared to reach you. And now I finally understand: if you see lovers on a roof, do not worry. Surely, love has metamorphosed them."
"O, weary angels, don't look at me with those eyes.If that is your state then what of our cries?What can I tell you of goodness that you don't already know?What can I tell you of faith,of hope and lovethat you yourselves bestow?O, angels, don't pluck another feather,this isn't the sky, it's just the weather.Please, angels, try.We are one all together.Look up and listen, I'll say it once and then put down my pen:We are sorry for our ignoranceand even though we are worldly,it might happen again.We are sorry for your wearinessand even though you aren't worldly,we are no more than human."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"O, weary angels, don't look at me with those eyes.If that is your state then what of our cries?What can I tell you of goodness that you don't already know?What can I tell you of faith,of hope and lovethat you yourselves bestow?O, angels, don't pluck another feather,this isn't the sky, it's just the weather.Please, angels, try.We are one all together.Look up and listen, I'll say it once and then put down my pen:We are sorry for our ignoranceand even though we are worldly,it might happen again.We are sorry for your wearinessand even though you aren't worldly,we are no more than human."
"Let my silence grow with noise as pregnant mothers grow with life. Let my silence permeate these walls as sunlight permeates a home. Let the silence rise from unwatered graves and craters left by bombs. Let the silence rise from empty bellies and surge from broken hearts. The silence of the hidden and forgotten. The silence of the abused and tortured. The silence of the persecuted and imprisoned. The silence of the hanged and massacred. Loud as all the sounds can be, let my silence be loud so the hungry may eat my words and the poor may wear my words. Loud as all the sounds can be, let my silence be loud so I may resurrect the dead and give voice to the oppressed. My silence speaks."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Let my silence grow with noise as pregnant mothers grow with life. Let my silence permeate these walls as sunlight permeates a home. Let the silence rise from unwatered graves and craters left by bombs. Let the silence rise from empty bellies and surge from broken hearts. The silence of the hidden and forgotten. The silence of the abused and tortured. The silence of the persecuted and imprisoned. The silence of the hanged and massacred. Loud as all the sounds can be, let my silence be loud so the hungry may eat my words and the poor may wear my words. Loud as all the sounds can be, let my silence be loud so I may resurrect the dead and give voice to the oppressed. My silence speaks."
"Now is not the time for bigots and racists. No time for sexists and homophobes. Now, more than ever, is the time for ARTISTS. It's time for us to rise above and to create. To show humanity. To spread hope. We must prevent society from destroying itself, from losing its way. Now is the time for love."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Now is not the time for bigots and racists. No time for sexists and homophobes. Now, more than ever, is the time for ARTISTS. It's time for us to rise above and to create. To show humanity. To spread hope. We must prevent society from destroying itself, from losing its way. Now is the time for love."
"Enjoy this moment. The ultimate fulfilment of the dream will not come close to the dream. Enjoy it."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Enjoy this moment. The ultimate fulfilment of the dream will not come close to the dream. Enjoy it."
"His hands are holding my cheeks, and he pulls back just to look me in the eye and his chest is heaving and he says, "I think," he says, "my heart is going to explode," and I wish, more than ever, that I knew how to capture moments like these and revisit them forever. Because this.This is everything."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"His hands are holding my cheeks, and he pulls back just to look me in the eye and his chest is heaving and he says, "I think," he says, "my heart is going to explode," and I wish, more than ever, that I knew how to capture moments like these and revisit them forever. Because this.This is everything."
"Things are changing, but this time I'm not afraid. This time I know who I am. This time I've made the right choice and fighting for the right team. I feel safe. Confident."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"Things are changing, but this time I'm not afraid. This time I know who I am. This time I've made the right choice and fighting for the right team. I feel safe. Confident."
"I have to get out of this room as soon as possible, or my own thoughts will wage war against me."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Tahereh Mafi
"I have to get out of this room as soon as possible, or my own thoughts will wage war against me."
"He knows all my thoughts. He knows all I've ever done and He loves me all the same. What is our purpose, you ask. It is to love like God."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"He knows all my thoughts. He knows all I've ever done and He loves me all the same. What is our purpose, you ask. It is to love like God."
"Make no mistake about it. We are born blind, deaf, and mute. It is neither these eyes that give us sight, nor these ears that give us sound. It is not even these lips that give us voice. It is only love. Love makes us seek beauty and truth. Love yearns to connect. To experience. To understand. So close your eyes at once. Don't utter a word. Perk up your ears and listen to that silent sound inside you where all this is found."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Make no mistake about it. We are born blind, deaf, and mute. It is neither these eyes that give us sight, nor these ears that give us sound. It is not even these lips that give us voice. It is only love. Love makes us seek beauty and truth. Love yearns to connect. To experience. To understand. So close your eyes at once. Don't utter a word. Perk up your ears and listen to that silent sound inside you where all this is found."
"I will drive the world crazywith love poems for you.So they can know how magnificent you areand how crazy I am."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"I will drive the world crazywith love poems for you.So they can know how magnificent you areand how crazy I am."
"Autumn is hereand I am in love.My heart has taken residence in my mind.I pick the crisp ochre leaves and put them in my pocket.I am in love."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Autumn is hereand I am in love.My heart has taken residence in my mind.I pick the crisp ochre leaves and put them in my pocket.I am in love."
"If your mind can move mountainsand swallow gods,Why does it worry with helpless yesterdays and unborn tomorrows?If it can vomit starsand walk on split hairs,Why must it follow the samepath to despair?Everyone will tell you:'An orgasm here is just as good."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"If your mind can move mountainsand swallow gods,Why does it worry with helpless yesterdays and unborn tomorrows?If it can vomit starsand walk on split hairs,Why must it follow the samepath to despair?Everyone will tell you:'An orgasm here is just as good."
"Sit here, so I may writeyou into a poem and make you eternal."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"Sit here, so I may writeyou into a poem and make you eternal."
"You do not have to be beautiful.You do not even have to be intelligent.All you have to do is practice kindness,for that is our purpose."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"You do not have to be beautiful.You do not even have to be intelligent.All you have to do is practice kindness,for that is our purpose."
"They want to knowwho I write these poems for.Tell them it's for all loversbecause I don't see a differencebetween our loveand their love."
Quote_Sign_edited_edited.png
Kamand Kojouri
"They want to knowwho I write these poems for.Tell them it's for all loversbecause I don't see a differencebetween our loveand their love."
bottom of page