Marina Nemat > Quotes

“تمنيت لو كان العالم مكاناً بسيطاً كل الناس فيه اما أخيار أو أشرار.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“سوف تقدرينه عندما تكبرين. عندما تكونين بحاجة للبكاء دون أن يعلم أحد أنك تبكين، يمكنك تقطيع البصل.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“Why doesn't anyone ask me anything about the last two years?" I asked her.
"The answer is very simple. We're afraid to ask because we're afraid of knowing... Maybe if we don't talk about it, and maybe if we pretend it never happened, it will be forgotten.”
― Marina Nemat, After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed

“The way I see Jesus has not changed much at all since I was a child, but my imprisonment and all that followed made me love Him even more. His being the Son of God makes sense to me, because I believe God to be loving, just, forgiving, and merciful. I also believe that He respects free will. After all, He has given it to us so that we can choose to love or hate Him, do good or evil. But is it fair for a loving God to sit on His throne in Heaven and let us struggle and suffer on our own? Would any good father abandon His children this way? It makes perfect sense to me that God decided to come among us, live like us, and die a horribly painful death after being tortured. This is a God I can love with all my heart. A God who sets an example. A God who has bled and whose heart has been broken. This is who Jesus is to me. I don't pretend that I understand the Holy Trinity. But I understand love and sacrifice. I understand faithfulness.”
― Marina Nemat, After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed

“Now that I was lying safely in my bed, it had become much easier to be brave.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“Each tombstone was like the cover of a book that had been sealed forever.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“Moving to America felt as splitting and eternal as death.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“I have tried to understand what crucifixion must feel like. I just know that the pain must be beyond what I have ever experienced. I respect, love, and trust the One who endured all this when He didn't have to. I understand Jesus with my heart, and the rest of the world can think of Him as it will.”
― Marina Nemat, After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed

“You have to know that death is only a step we have to take to reach the other world and live, only in a different way.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“Nos da miedo preguntar porque nos da miedo saber.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“But love had its way of doing things; it was like spring crawling into the skin of the earth at the end of winter. Each day the temperature rose just a little, tree branches swelled with new buds, the sun remained in the sky moments longer than the previous day, and before you knew it, the world was filled with warmth and color.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“I closed my eyes and wondered if heaven had a Lost and Found. I had left many things behind.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“Child, we can't see the face of God with these eyes, but with our souls. You have to know that death is only a step we have to take to reach the other world and live, only in a different way.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“When I entered the kitchen, Grandma was chopping onions, tears rolling down her face. My eyes started to burn.

"I hate raw onions," I said.

"You'll appreciate them once you get older. Then, when you need torch and you don't want anyone to know you're crying, you can just chop onions.”
― Marina Nemat, Prisoner of Tehran

“In this remarkable book, Irene Reilly walks us through her journey of love, loss, and grief. She puts her vulnerability as a mother on the page and shows us that human resiliency can push darkness away so that hope can grow. Heartfelt and honest, I highly recommend it.”
― Marina Nemat, [(Prisoner of Tehran: One Woman's Story of Survival Inside a Torture Jail )] [Author: Marina Nemat] [May-2008]