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" I am a Moroccan writer of French expression. "

Tahar Ben Jelloun

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" 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. "

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" There is a gulf between the Arab peoples and Arab intellectuals. "

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" 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. "

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" My hope is that countries like Morocco will have investment to create work, so people don't have to leave. "

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" I do not use the language of my people. I can take liberties with certain themes which the Arabic language would not allow me to take. "

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" It is impossible to disregard such an important medium as television. We should know how to use it, learn to work in it and express new values in it. "

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" 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. "

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" Beauty is first and foremost an emotion. "

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" At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets. "

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" This universe can very well be expressed in words and syllables which are not those of one's mother tongue. "

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" I love life in spite of all that mars it. I love friendship, jokes and laughter. "

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" In the '70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away. "

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" We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world. "

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" Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever. "

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" In the Arab world, there is no link between the cultural habits of peoples and the ways of thinking and creating of modern intellectuals. They are two separate worlds. "

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" To lead a country, you must periodically hold a national consultation in which people representing different programmes can make a bid for power. "

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" Religion has to stay in the heart, not in politics. It is private. "

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" I don't feel guilty about expressing myself in French; nor do I feel that I am continuing the work of the colonizers. "

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" A modern civilization is only possible when it is accepted that singular beings exist and express themselves freely. "

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" 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 complicity. "

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Change The World

" My characters are driven by a passionate desire for justice. They are rebellious and incorruptible. "

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" 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 other side. "

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