"Abu Lahab stood up and shouted angrily, "Perish you, Mohammad! Did you invite us here for this?" The answer to Abu Lahab's challenge came in verse 1 of sura 111 (ol-Masad), in which the same Arabic word meaning "perish" appears: "Perish Abu Lahab's hands, and may he (himself) perish!" ... Nor would his wife, Omm Jomayyel, who had strewn thorns in the Prophet's path, be left unpunished: "And his wife, the carrier of the firewood sticks, will have a rope of palm fiber on her neck.""

"Millions of people had been uprooted by the war and could not adapt themselves to a new way of life. On the other hand, certain people had grown rich and powerful."

"I well remember the time, after the First World War, when one needed a tillion-mark note to buy a dozen eggs. Since paper, however, was still valuable, the bank notes were stored in gigantic silos which stood in the yards of our factories. In these we children made tunnels and played among the billions and trillions — a strange introduction to money, but perhaps it helped me to realize how worthless it can become when man-made values change."

"Only one thing is certain. People get out of life exactly what they put into it."

"I asked Mina how would I know on which side I stood. Her answer was quick, short, and very clear - If you can't get out, you are on the powerless side."

"Sometimes, she said that to be stuck in a harem simply meant that a woman had lost her freedom of movement. Other times, she said that a harem meant misfortune because a woman had to share her husband with many others""

"To make babies, the bride and groom had to dress up nicely, put flowers in their hair and lie down together on a very big bed. The next thing you knew, many mornings later, there was a little baby crawling between them""

"But it was the radio incident that taught me an important lesson. It was then that Mother told me about the need to chew my words before letting them out. ‘Turn each word around your tongue seven times, with your lips tightly shut, before uttering a sentence,’ she said. ‘Because once your words are out, you might lose a lot.’”"

"But since then, looking for the frontier has become my life’s occupation. Anxiety eats at me whenever I cannot situate the geometric line organizing my powerlessness.”"

"But when your situation is hopeless, all you can do is turn the world upside down, transform it according to your wishes, and create anew."

"“Try explaining to them that a working woman is no less responsible for her home. Try explaining to them that nothing is done if you do not step in, that you have to see to everything, do everything all over again: cleaning up, cooking, ironing. There are the children to be washed, the husband to be looked after. The working woman has a dual task, of which both halves, equally arduous, must be reconciled.”"

"“A nervous breakdown waits around the corner for anyone who lets himself wallow in bitterness. Little by little, it takes over your whole being.”"

"“A woman must marry the man who loves her, but never the one she loves; that is the secret of lasting happiness.”"

"“Books saved you. Having become your refuge, they sustained you. The power of books, this marvelous invention of astute human intelligence. Various signs associated with sound: different sounds that form the word. Juxtaposition of words from which springs the idea, Thought, History, Science, Life. Sole instrument of interrelationships and of culture, unparalleled means of giving and receiving. Books knit generations together in the same continuing effort that leads to progress. They enabled you to better yourself. What society refused you, they granted.”"

"There are many ways to be beautiful. Fighting, swearing, and ignoring tradition could make a women irresistible."

"“In a word, a man’s success depends on feminine support.”"

"“The word ‘happiness’ does indeed have meaning, doesn’t it? I shall go out in search of it.”"

"“Friendship has splendors that love knows not. It grows stronger when crossed, whereas obstacles kill love. Friendship resists time, which wearies and severs couples. It has heights unknown to love.""

"“The flavour of life is love. The salt of life is also love.”"

"In the face of misogyny and injustice, the only hope is escape."

"“Each life has its share of heroism, an obscure heroism, born of abdication, of renunciation and acceptance under the merciless whip of fate.”"

"We saw everything through the same eyes before we were married… But now we seem to be divided over everything."

"Love knows no bounds, but sometimes society does."

"The truth can be a harsh and cruel reality."

"“The most humble of huts is pleasing when it is clean; the most luxurious setting offers no attraction if it is covered in dust.”"

"Whenever he felt himself beginning to fancy any girl, after the Ouleymatou experience, the memory of her mocking indifference and his own disillusionment had made him fiercely determined to nip any emotional attachment in the bud."

"Ousmane Gueye, who had mistrusted all women, threw himself at the mercy of a woman, and a white woman at that."

"Was he a possible partner for Mireille? Could he assume such a mutation."

"Quant revient la saison que l'herbe reverdoie Que di fleons clerets la terre alme s'ondoie, Qu'esjoissent oysels de lors gracieux chantz Li bois, et la pré, e li chamz, Soir et matin, filles, n'allez sollettes Quierre ez gazons derraines violettes; Serpent y gist que n'y mord au talon, Por ce n'est il, tendres poulettes, Por ce n'est il que plus felon."

"A Toubab can’t be a proper daughter-in-law. She’ll only have eyes for her man. We’ll mean nothing to her."

"The French do not imprison their wives behind walls, my dear mother-in-law,' she would say. 'They let them run wild in the local souk (market), and everyone had fun, and sill the work gets done'""

"She would take him to faraway lands to observe foreign ways, so he could get closer to the strangeness within himself."

"Mothers should tell little girls and boys about the importance of dreams,' Aunt Habiba said. 'They give a sense direction. It is not enough to reject this courtyard--you need to have a vision of the meadows with which you want to replace it.' But how, I asked Aunt Habiba, could you distinguish among all the wishes, all the cravings which besieged you, and find the one on which you ought to focus, the important dream that gave you vision? She said that little children had to be patient, the key dream would emerge and bloom within, and then, from the intense pleasure it gave you, you would know that that it was the genuine little treasure which would give you direction and light."

"“Teachers – at kindergarten level, as at university level – form a noble army accomplishing daily feats, never praised, never decorated. An army without drums, without gleaming uniforms. This army, thwarting traps and snares, everywhere plants the flag of knowledge and morality.”"

"(AWS, 1987; Page 75)"

"Happiness was when there was a balance between what you gave and what you took"

"Pessimism is the luxury of the powerful."

"Perfect beauty is to be found only in woman,’ she said, ‘so yield to me and I shall let you taste undreamed of happiness…’"

"“Father, you gave me a real beating tonight.”"

"“Only blood,” he said, “washes dishonor clean.”"

"An idea would obtrude itself upon me sometimes: did Cleopatra, the very legend of love, have sexual intercourse with her serpent after having given up sleeping with men, having wearied of amorous adventures with them so that her sated instincts were no longer moved other than by the excitement of fear, her senses no longer aroused other than by bites from a snake? And the last of her lovers had been a viper that had destroyed her."

"Being frozen into the passive position of an object whose very existence depends on the eye of its beholder turn the educated modern Western women into a harem slave."

"Daughter, I’m not crying now because I’m fed up or regret that the Lord created me a woman. No, it’s not that. It’s just that I’m sad about my life and my youth that have come and gone without my knowing how to live them really and truly as a woman."

"She returned to the living room and poured out the coffee for herself. She was surprised at how calm she was."

"Isn’t it better, when he returns, for your father to find himself with a legitimate son [rather] than an illegitimate grandson?"

"The fact is there’s no joy for a girl in growing up, it’s just one disaster after another till you end up an old woman who’s good for nothing and who’s real lucky if she finds someone to feel sorry for her."

"Beauty is in the skin!"

"(AWS, 1987; Page 8)"

"(AWS, 1987; Page 71)"

"There was no doubt but that the secret of my passion for her, my preoccupation with her, was due to the excitement that had aroused, through intense fear, desire within myself; an excitement that was sufficiently strong to drive the blood hotly through my veins whenever the memory of her came to me, thrusting the blood in bursts that made my heart beat widly, my limbs limp."