Mai Youssef > Mai's Quotes

“تفرانيل 50"

أنا بفضل دايما للآخر
ف جيمات الكونكان والشايب
و ف كشف الحاضر والغايب
وف حجز شقق مصيف بلطيم
أنا آخر تايب في اصحابي
وآخرهم ف الصلا ف التسليم
وف دور المدرسه في التطعيم
وفي وقت السين
أنا آخر جيم
أنا جرح قديم...كان متغطي
إكمني مشتي ولابس كم
سبتني الدنيا بستين أم
وسبتلها ميت مِلّه ودين
ولحد ماتميت ست سنين
أنا كنت بحب البني آدمين
وكرهت الناس من بعديها
علشان نسّوني أنا أصلاً مين
مش فاكر إمتى حقيقي بدأت
إنما فيه فتره فاكرها طشاش
كان فنجان قهوتي مابيفضاش
وبكلم ربنا طول الوقت
عمري ماصدقت بنات غير ريم
ويمكن دلوقتي ما اصدقهاش
آخر مره
شفتها فيها
كانت تقريبا بتعزل
و كان فيه سواق تاكسي منزل
ف شنط ناس حتحل مكانها
ووشوش بني آدمين معرفهاش
أنا ريم يمكن كانت قدي
أيامها... لكن دلوقتي أصغر
عارفه إن أنا يوميا بكبر ؟
وبعجز إكمني مابنساش
أنا فاكر أيام بالميللي
أنا فاكر أيام بالتفصيل
أنا فاكر يوم دفنة أختي
حتصدقي..؟ أكتر مافاكرها
وساعات بنسي ف ليله كبيرها
أنا فاكر شقة قصرالنيل
ومش فاكر حد من السكان
من صغري وعمري مابنسي مكان
أنا أصلاً فاكر بيت شادي
مع إني مازورتوش غير مره
بأمارة فيه برواز بره
كان جواه صورته ف إعدادي
كان لسه ساعتها طالعله شنب
ونا حاسس إني طلعلي أتب
من تقل الشيله و م التفكير
معلش أنا آسف برغي كتير
وبسف ف وقتك وف وقتي
أنا حاسس بدماغي بتتقل
أنا نفسي أنام
أنا عاوز أروّح دلوقتي
متشكر جداً ع الجلسه
حنكمل إمتى علاج طيب ؟
لازم حنشوف بعض قريب
أنا ماشي...
سلام”
― مصطفى إبراهيم

“انتهت صداقتنا ليس بمشاجرة أو موقف عنيف، وإنما هي حالة من القرف والملل التدريجي ... ما ينتهي ببطء لا يعود بسرعة .. لا يعود أبدًا ..!”
― أحمد خالد توفيق, قصاصات قابلة للحرق

“أؤمن بالله



حتى لو ألحد العالم و ضواحيه.. حتى لو رفض العلم و العقل و الرياضة و حساب المثلثات.. حتى لو كان كل شيء مسبب و له مصدر و له نهاية.. حتى لو تفشى الظلم حتى لو لم يصبح أي شيء عادل.. حتى لو إختفى الكمال و إختفى الجمال.. حتى لو لم نجد في عقلنا الأسباب و المسببات.”
― عمرو سلامة, شاب كشك في رحلة البحث عن الجادون

“أنا من شريحة انصاف المثفين، قرينا كثير بس اتكلمنا و فتينا اكثر بكثير”
― عمرو سلامة, شاب كشك في رحلة البحث عن الجادون

“أنا أحسن واحد يقنعك تحكي…

ومابيحكيش…

وأحسن واحد يقنعك تبكي…

...وما بيبكيش…

أنا أحسن واحد يقنعك تفرح….

وأحسن واحد يقنعك تجرح…

أنا أحسن واحد ميت….

يقدر يقنعك….تعيش…”
― مصطفى إبراهيم, المانيفستو

“أبعد نُقطة بِالنِسبالك
جُوَّا الدايرة... هِيَّ مكانك
ولأن أساساً ف الدايرة
هنا هوَّ هناك
ف طبيعي تحس انك عايش
باتنين جُوَّاك”
― مصطفى إبراهيم, المانيفستو

“دائما ما تأتى الأمور مختلطة: الإحباط والتحقق، الشكوك والإيمان، البرودة والسعادة، ولا يمكنك الفصل بينهم واختيار جانب واحد. لا يحدث هذا إلا فى قصص الأطفال.”
― عزالدين شكري فشير, باب الخروج: رسالة علي المفعمة ببهجة غير متوقعة

“تفرانيل 100
انا شعرى غامق
بس قلبى مطقطق ابيض من زمان
جايز عشان
الناس ساعات بتلاقى ناس
تعرف تشوفها بجد
و انا قلبى لسه عمره ما اتكشف ع حد
بقابل اد ما اقابل
و افارق اد ما افارق
و ما اتعلمش
بلخبط ف الاسامى عشان
بخاف انسى
بلخبط ف الدنيا عشان
بخاف لا ما اعيشش
بقالى كتير ما بتكلمش
بخاف يبقى الكلام متعاد
ما كملتش ف اى رحيل
ما كملتش ف اى قعاد
و بدى للحياة بالكاد
ما يكفيها
و يكفينى
شرور البهدلة فيها
مليش ف البنت طلبات غير
تنسينى اللى قبليها
و بدخل ف حاجات تخاطيف
و عينى ع اللى بعديها
رقصت كتير ع السلم
بخاف اطلع
و اخاف من الارض
- اكيد الخوف مش الفكرة
و حتى يا ستى يعنى بفرض
اكيد الخوف مهواش عيب
طبيعى الناس تخاف من الغيب
و من المقدور
برغم كدة
بحب الضلمة اكتر ما بحب النور
ساعات بتمنى شقة ف برج شايفة النيل
و اوقات انى اعيش مستور
و بزهد .. ف كل ما ف الرحلة من زخرف
و ما زهدهاش
ما دام فيها رمق يتعاش
اكيد ف الرحلة يوم متحاش
و مستنى اعدى عليه
- و تعرف عنه اصلا اية ؟
مفيش غير انه لسه مجاش
بنام ؟
طبعا .. كتير جدا
و بالايام
و طول الوقت بحلم ان انا بجرى
و بشبع من الحاجات بدرى
و رغم كدة لسه ما شبعتش
من الجرى و من الاحلام
بخاف من الموت
عشان خايف ساعتها اكون
عبيط .. كل اللى سيبته كلام
بشوف افلام
عن الدنيا
و عن حكايات
لناس عاشت حاجات تانية
و عن حكايات لناس ماعاشوش
و بتأثر
و بتحسر
ع كل اللى كان ممكن
اكونه
بس ما بقيتهوش
ما سبتش شئ مجربتوش
ولا جربته و ما سبتوش
بحب العود
و احب الناى
و اموت و اعرف حقيقى ازاى
حاجات من دى
ساعات بتدب فيها الروح
من اللمس و من الانفاس
فتبقى حية اكتر من البشر و الناس
مفيش احساس
لحسن الحظ و لسوئه
ما بيعديش
مفيش ولا طعم حاجة من اللى بتدوقه
مسيره يعيش
بحلوه و بمره كله بيتسخط لمفيش
يا سبحان اللى بيعودنا ع الحاجة
فننساها
و بيخفف كاسات الناس
بميه بدال ما يملاها
عشان طعم اللى فيها يروح
عشان طعم اللى فيها يخف
يقولوا مجازا المجروح
اذا خد ع الوجع .. بيخف
تلف عليه سواقى الكون
تدوب اللى فات
ف الجاى
ف سبحانه اما قال
منها جعلنا
( كل شئ حى )
زمان فيه حد علمنا
ف درس الدين
دعاء بيقول :
يا خالق كل شئ ناقص .. كمالته معاك
يا شايل من الحاجات حتة .. بنترجاك
بحق المشهد الكامل
و اسمك اللى انا عرفته
تسيب اللى يكفينا
و تكفينا بما سبته
ما تحوجناش
لجاى مجاش
و ترضينا بما جبته
و ندعى وراه بصوت عالى
يرج الفصل رج خفيف
و اكمل دعوتى ف سرى
( و ترحم قلبى ف شيبته )
كما تدعو الفروع الاصل
دعوتها
ف كل خريف”
― مصطفى إبراهيم, المانيفستو

“For you, a thousand times over”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting. - Amir”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“I'm so afraid. Because I'm so profoundly happy. Happiness like this is frightening...They only let you this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“مش مهم انك تغير الكون... المهم انك تخلي الكون ما يغيركش”
― عمر طاهر

“انا كوكب ماشى لوحده
ومفيش للوحده حدود
وهاسيب تليفونى يرن
انا اصلا مش موجود”
― عمر طاهر, قهوة وشيكولاتة

“Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. - Amir”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“I close my eyes and I take a deep breath and I think about my life and how I ended up this way. I think about the ruin, devastation and wreckage I have caused to myself and to others. I think about self-hatred and self-loathing. I think about how and why and what happened and the thoughts come easily, but the answers don't.”
― James Frey

“للأسف

مشكلتك مالهاش حل
جنونك عاقل جداً
بس عقل العاقلين
من حواليك
مختل..”
― خالد كساب

“When they bombed Hiroshima, the explosion formed a mini-supernova, so every living animal, human or plant that received direct contact with the rays from that sun was instantly turned to ash.

And what was left of the city soon followed. The long-lasting damage of nuclear radiation caused an entire city and its population to turn into powder.

When I was born, my mom says I looked around the whole hospital room with a stare that said, "This? I've done this before." She says I have old eyes.

When my Grandpa Genji died, I was only five years old, but I took my mom by the hand and told her, "Don't worry, he'll come back as a baby."

And yet, for someone who's apparently done this already, I still haven't figured anything out yet.

My knees still buckle every time I get on a stage. My self-confidence can be measured out in teaspoons mixed into my poetry, and it still always tastes funny in my mouth.

But in Hiroshima, some people were wiped clean away, leaving only a wristwatch or a diary page. So no matter that I have inhibitions to fill all my pockets, I keep trying, hoping that one day I'll write a poem I can be proud to let sit in a museum exhibit as the only proof I existed.

My parents named me Sarah, which is a biblical name. In the original story God told Sarah she could do something impossible and she laughed, because the first Sarah, she didn't know what to do with impossible.

And me? Well, neither do I, but I see the impossible every day. Impossible is trying to connect in this world, trying to hold onto others while things are blowing up around you, knowing that while you're speaking, they aren't just waiting for their turn to talk -- they hear you. They feel exactly what you feel at the same time that you feel it. It's what I strive for every time I open my mouth -- that impossible connection.

There's this piece of wall in Hiroshima that was completely burnt black by the radiation. But on the front step, a person who was sitting there blocked the rays from hitting the stone. The only thing left now is a permanent shadow of positive light. After the A bomb, specialists said it would take 75 years for the radiation damaged soil of Hiroshima City to ever grow anything again. But that spring, there were new buds popping up from the earth.

When I meet you, in that moment, I'm no longer a part of your future. I start quickly becoming part of your past. But in that instant, I get to share your present. And you, you get to share mine. And that is the greatest present of all.

So if you tell me I can do the impossible, I'll probably laugh at you. I don't know if I can change the world yet, because I don't know that much about it -- and I don't know that much about reincarnation either, but if you make me laugh hard enough, sometimes I forget what century I'm in.

This isn't my first time here. This isn't my last time here. These aren't the last words I'll share.

But just in case, I'm trying my hardest to get it right this time around.”
― Sarah Kay

“If I should have a daughter…“Instead of “Mom”, she’s gonna call me “Point B.” Because that way, she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I’m going to paint the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe before she can say “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.”

She’s gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band-aids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder-woman isn’t coming, I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.

And “Baby,” I’ll tell her “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that, I know that trick, you’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else, find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.”

But I know that she will anyway, so instead I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boats nearby, ‘cause there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix. Okay, there’s a few heartbreaks chocolate can’t fix. But that’s what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to see the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat, to look through a magnifying glass at the galaxies that exist on the pin point of a human mind. Because that’s how my mom taught me. That there’ll be days like this, “There’ll be days like this my momma said” when you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you wanna save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say “thank you,” ‘cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away.

You will put the “wind” in win some lose some, you will put the “star” in starting over and over, and no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting I am pretty damn naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

“Baby,” I’ll tell her “remember your mama is a worrier but your papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.”

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.

Your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep and hand you hand-outs on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.”
― Sarah Kay

“Life will hit you hard in the face, wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.”
― Sarah Kay

“My self-confidence can be measured out in teaspoons mixed into my poetry, and it still always tastes funny in my mouth.”
― Sarah Kay

“People think dreams aren't real just because they aren't made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes.”
― Neil Gaiman

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“أَعرفُ هذه الرؤيا ، وأَعرفُ أَنني

أَمضي إلى ما لَسْتُ أَعرفُ . رُبَّما

ما زلتُ حيّاً في مكانٍ ما، وأَعرفُ

ما أُريدُ …

سأصيرُ يوماً ما أُريدُ”
― محمود درويش, جدارية

“She liked people. Me, I can take them or leave them, but mostly leave them.”
― Sue Townsend, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year

“Will you lie to me and promise to read them? Books need to be read. The pages need to be turned.”
― Sue Townsend, The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year

“Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

“We need enormous pockets, pockets big enough for our families and our friends, and even the people who aren't on our lists, people we've never met but still want to protect. We need pockets for boroughs and for cities, a pocket that could hold the universe.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

“اعرف ان فشلك الوحيد الحقيقى هوا الاستسلام خصوصا لو من غير اشتباك”
― عمرو سلامة, شاب كشك في رحلة البحث عن الجادون

“سؤال دائما ما يطرح نفسه فى حياتنا.. ليه كل ما هو "صح" و "كويس" و "مفيد" صعب؟ و ليه كل ما هو "غلط" و "وحش" و "مؤى" سهل؟”
― عمرو سلامة, شاب كشك في رحلة البحث عن الجادون