Naguib Mahfouz Literature Quotations

I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.

History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.

I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story.

My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize.

I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.

The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level.

I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.

It is simply not part of my culture to preserve notes. I have never heard of a writer preserving his early drafts.

Without literature my life would be miserable.