“ Emigration is no longer a solution it's a defeat. People are risking death, drowning every day, but they're knocking on doors that are not open. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ Man is more noble dead than alive, because in returning to the earth he becomes earth, and nothing is nobler than the earth that entombs us, closes our eyes, and blossoms in a beautiful eterneity. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ I have written about the dispossessed, immigrants, the condition of women who do not enjoy the same legal rights as men, the Palestinians who are deprived of their land and condemned to exile. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ Intellectuals try to keep going. But their situation is very difficult. Those who have had the courage to voice their opposition have often paid a very high price. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, humiliation. I know that's not enough to change the world. But to remain silent would have been a kind of intolerable comp… Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ But you'll see, you can feel time on the wind it whips up as it passes. We don't worry about time or the wind. Nothing can touch us any more. As long as people remember us, we are here. Anyway, it's t… Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ My hope is that countries like Morocco will have investment to create work, so people don't have to leave. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ I write about wounds, the eternal treasons of life. It's not very funny, but it's sincere. My commitment is to sincerity. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ We must have our say, not through violence, aggression or fear. We must speak out calmly and forcefully. We shall only be able to enter the new world era if we agree to engage in dialogue with the oth… Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ Poetry is not only a set of words which are chosen to relate to each other it is something which goes much further than that to provide a glimpse of our vision of the world. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ The world does not look to us in the Arab world out of a healthy desire for knowledge. Tahar Ben Jelloun
“ People must insist on the right to say no, to be alone, to stand out from the herd. Creative artists can say all this in their own way and in their own field, by hard, rigorous work. Tahar Ben Jelloun
