Amara Lakhous > Quotes

“So many people consider their work a daily punishment. Whereas I love my work as a translator. Translation is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other. Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler: I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images, and metaphors.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

“يحتاج الانسان للحلم كحاجة السمكة للماء”
― عمارة لخوص

“أنا أعشق المصعد، لا أستعمله بدافع الكسل و انما من أجل التأمل، تضع اصبعك على الزر دون أي جهد ، تصعد الى الأعلى أو تنزل الى الأسفل، قد يتعطل و انت قابع فيه ، انه كالحياة تماما لا يخلو من العطب ، تارة أنت في الأعلى و تارة أنت في الأسفل..”
― عمارة لخوص, كيف ترضع من الذئبة دون أن تعضك

“The breakdown of the elevator is catastrophe that forces us to use the stairs, and in thus an offence to modernity, to development, and the enlightenment”.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

“ثم ما أدراك من هو الايطالي؟ من ولد في ايطاليا، أو من يملك جواز سفر و بطاقة تعريف ايطالية، أو من يتقن اللغة الايطالية، أو من يحمل اسما ايطالي،أو من يسكن في ايطاليا؟ المسألة كما ترون معقدة جدا!”
― عمارة لخوص, كيف ترضع من الذئبة دون أن تعضك

“The real problem is that we live in a society where the male is both the opponent and, at the same time, the referee.”
― Amara Lakhous, Divorce Islamic Style

“Everyone complains about their children. I wonder, and not just to be argumentative: if children are such a pain in the ass, why have them?”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“Un des plus beaux moments de l'amour est celui de la rencontre, quand on se plonge dans l'amour comme on se jette à la mer, sans s'inquiéter de détails ou de questions pénibles.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

“I thought all day about racists who refuse to smile and I realized that Iqbal has made an important discovery. The racist’s problem is not with others but with himself. I would go further: he doesn’t smile at his fellow-man because he doesn’t know how to smile at himself. The Arab proverb that says “He who has nothing gives nothing” is very true.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio: A Novel

“You can’t change the habits of a lifetime.”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“أمديو: حبيبتي ذاكرتي كالمصعد المعطل.. بل الماضي كالبركان النائم.. ساعديني على تجنب ايقاظه الفظيع و حممه الجهنمية..
قلت له: أمديو حبيبي أنا لا أريد منك الاض و انما الحاضر و المستقبل.
ربما هذا الغموض هو سر عشقي له..”
― عمارة لخوص, كيف ترضع من الذئبة دون أن تعضك

“I’m very drawn to people who have complicated roots, like me.”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“[...] il difetto del turista consiste nella sua voglia eccessiva di sapere e scoprire tutto in pochi giorni. Molto spesso ho consigliato ai viaggiatori di pazientare e non avere fretta. Il bel viaggio non finisce, perché custodisce in sé la promessa di un nuovo inizio per quello seguente. È come i racconti di Shahrazad, che non finiscono mai, iniziano sempre. (p. 151)”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

“Translator is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other.
Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler: I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images, and metaphors.”
― Amara Lakhous

“Io non sono razzista, ma questa è la verità!”
― Amara Lakhous, Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio

“The nightmare is the window through which the past enters like a thief, as a French writer says.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

“Every situation is unique, even if analogies exist.”
― Amara Lakhous

“Once I heard an old woman in Mali utter words that I've treasured like rare pearls: "Never trust a guide to the Sahara. He is like Satan, cursed forever, because the Sahara doesn't like arrogance. Those who claim to know it must expect the inevitable punishment, death from thirst. Modesty is the only language the Sahara understands." A few years ago I met an Icelandic tourist who told me something extraordinary: that fishermen in the region where he lives don't know how to swim, because the safety of a shipwrecked man depends not on knowing how to swim but on obedience, submission, total resignation to the sea. There is no difference between the sea and the Sahara.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

“Dopo qualche telefonata prende il Tuttocittà e dà un’occhiata veloce alle pagine per assicurarsi dell’esattezza dei nomi delle strade,”
― Amara Lakhous, Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio

“My father always used to say that human beings have the same fate as trees: deprived of their roots, they die. And there is no stronger root than language.”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“The problem is, this is Italy: we reward the incompetent and despise the good!”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio: A Novel

“Sam really likes to repeat this North African proverb: “You can’t cross a river without getting wet.” To achieve a goal or realize a dream you always have to pay a price. Life doesn’t give you anything.”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“I ask as loud as I can, from this hole that has a stink to take your breath away: who possesses the truth? Rather, what is the truth? Is the truth spoken with words? Parviz spoke his truth with his mouth sewed up: he spoke with his silence.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio: A Novel

“C’è un proverbio persiano che dice: l’ebbrezza di gioventù è intensa come quella del vino.”
― Amara Lakhous, Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio

“ألا يسمى المرحاض عندنا "بيت الراحة" المرحاض هو المكان الوحيد الذي يتضمن لنا الراحة الخالصة و العزلة الحلوة، هذا المكان هو عشّي و هذا المقعد الابيض الذي أجلس عليه لقضاء حاجتي هو عرشي”
― عمارة لخوص, كيف ترضع من الذئبة دون أن تعضك

“Try to be more consistent with your religion and don’t be a pain in the ass.”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“Working as a journalist, I’ve come to understand that the reality we confront has neither value nor weight. It’s the imaginary that governs our actions or, rather, reactions. We are increasingly insecure, frightened, vulnerable, unreasonable.”
― Amara Lakhous, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

“La legge dovrebbe punire chi si permette di turbare la tranquillità dei buoni cittadini che vanno al lavoro la mattina e tornano a casa la sera.”
― Amara Lakhous, Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio

“The life of Italian immigrants in the past closely resembles the life of the immigrants arriving in Italy today. Throughout history, immigrants have always been the same. All that changes is their language, their religion, and the color of their skin.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio: A Novel

“Having children is a ruinous decision. It's like having stocks, when they lose their value you won't find a buyer. No one listens to the Pope and the President of the Republic, when they exhort Italians to have children, and that's because the cost is high, the risks immense, and the benefits few.”
― Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio