Samira Ahmed > Quotes

“The scariest monsters are the ones who seem the most like you.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“A compass doesn’t tell you where you are, and it doesn’t tell you where you have to go. It can only point you in a direction. It’s up to you to always find your true north.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“What’s that thing people always say about history? Unless we know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it? Never forget? Isn’t that the lesson? But we always forget. Forgetting is in the American grain.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“These terrorists are the antithesis of Islam. They’re not Muslim. Violence has no place in religion, and the terrorists are responsible for their own crimes, not the religion and not us.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters

“My body remembers what part of my mind wants to forget—because there are times when I struggle to reconcile what I gave up to be here, in this very moment, despite how much I wanted it. How much I do want it. The past may be prologue, but it’s with me, every day.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters

“But it's also a reminder that being quiet doesn't always signify weakness. Sometimes it takes great strength to find that silence. Sometimes it takes incredible strength to survive.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Praying is important. But you can’t simply pray for what you want. You have to act.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“You are still young. Free . . . Do yourself a favor. Before it’s too late, without thinking about it first, pack a pillow and a blanket and see as much of the world as you can.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate and Other Filters

“One thing I’ve learned: people love a camera, and when I’m filming, they see it, not me, so whenever I need to, I can quietly disappear behind my trusty shield.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters

“I'm tired of hiding all the important parts of myself.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters

“If history had no ghosts, I wouldn’t be terrified of what might come next.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“I roll my eyes, since every Muslim understands the hypocrisy of right-wing xenophobes. They’re all terrified of a word they don’t understand, scared that religious law is going to infiltrate the land, but meanwhile they support the death penalty, are anti-choice, and think creationism should be taught in schools because of… wait for it… religion.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“In recent times we’ve seen hate emerge out of dark corners, torches blazing in the night. We’ve witnessed so-called leaders not merely casually accept cruelty, but engender it. Worse, we’ve seen horrific violence. But all around us, we’ve seen people rise up, not merely against the forces of hate, but for equality and justice. Bigotry may run through the American grain, but so too does resistance. We know the world we are fighting for.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate and Other Filters

“I look around as people take seats in our segregated sections—South Asian, African American, Arab, Southeast Asian. East Asian and Latinx, too, though they seem to be fewer in number. Soheil was right. Everything is deliberate. Divide and conquer. We may all be Muslims, but we still have our prejudices and racism. It’s simpler to play on our internalized “-isms” if you separate us and feed our fears—easier to make us “other” ourselves and do the Director’s work for him. Today, we’re all Muslims who’ve been forced here, but maybe it wouldn’t be hard to tap into our bigotry to turn us against one another, to turn our gaze away from where our anger should really be directed. Classic colonial conquest strategy. Just ask the British.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“It’s selfish and horrible, but in this terrible moment, all I want is to be a plain old American teenager. Who can simply mourn without fear. Who doesn’t share last names with a suicide bomber. Who goes to dances and can talk to her parents about anything and can walk around without always being anxious. And who isn’t a presumed terrorist first and an American second.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters

“One detail that’s impossible to miss? Just like in the train station, every person with a gun is white, and not white like maybe they’re Bosnian—the kind of white that thinks internment camps are going to make America great again.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“There are literally centuries of women who never got to tell their stories. An invisible hand squeezes my heart for the nameless women history brushed aside.”
― Samira Ahmed, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know

“America is us. America is ours. It’s worth fighting for. The people united will never be defeated. Resist.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“There’s never been a wall that people haven’t been able to get by.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“The thing is, it’s not like half this country suddenly became Islamophobes because of any single event. But the lies, the rhetoric calling refugees rapists and criminals, the fake news, the false statistics, all gave those well-meaning people who say they’re not bigots cover to vote for a man who openly tweeted his hatred of us on a nearly daily basis.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“They can take away my freedom, but not my fantastic ability to hold a grudge.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“I think of all the people throughout history who found themselves in a place like this, stepping out from the shadows, raising their voices. Finding their courage, facing their fears so that they could be free. There were so many we lost, the ones who were taken, cut down, for the color of their skin, or the religion they practiced, or the person they loved. All they wanted was to live.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“We must build bridges, conquer hate with love, and meet intolerance with a renewed commitment to education and open-mindedness. From many, we are one.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate and Other Filters

“Book banning has long been used to silence those who want to speak out, those who are unwilling to be gaslit into thinking they're living in the best of all possible worlds.”
― Samira Ahmed, This Book Won't Burn

“Even if we lived in India, I would still be who I am and want what I want. Geography wouldn't have changed that.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters

“And for those who bear the brunt of hate because of the color of their skin, or the sound of their name, or the scarf on their head, or the person they love; for those who are spat upon, for those who are told to “go home” when they are home: you are known. You are loved. You are enough. Let your light shine. I wrote this book for you.”
― Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate and Other Filters

“They stay quiet, using their silence and privilege as a shield to protect themselves.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Reading is dangerous because it shows us the truth. Words give us power; that’s why some adults want to silence us.”
― Samira Ahmed, This Book Won't Burn

“The stars have all gone out. Only darkness remains.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Every world I'd ever fallen into, every misstep, every whirling swirl of confusion and panic led to this one single moment in time that I wanted to live in forever. No future, no past, only the spectacular now of two people who know these seconds are all the forever they will ever have.”
― Samira Ahmed, The Singular Life of Aria Patel