Asmae Benelmahi > Asmae's Quotes

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“كيف نضجر وللسماء هذه الزرقة ، وللأرض هذه الخضرة ، وللورد هذا الشذا ، وللقلب هذه القدرة العجيبة على الحب ، وللروح هذه الطاقة اللانهائية على الإيمان. كيف نضجر وفي الدنيا من نحبهم ، ومن نعجب بهم ، ومن يحبوننا ، ومن يعجبون بنا.”
― نجيب محفوظ

“غريب أن أبقى محتفظة بنفس النظرة إلى شخص ما طوال ثلاثين عاماً، أن يمضي الزمن وتمر السنوات وتتبدل المشاهد وتبقى صورته كما قرّت في نفسي في لقاءاتنا الأولى”
― رضوى عاشور, فرج

“ما أعرفه أن وجودك ولو فى البعد هو سند هائل لى”
― رضوى عاشور, خديجة وسوسن

“هناك احتمال آخر لتتويج مسعانا بغير الهزيمة، ما دمنا قررنا أننا لن نموت قبل أن نحاول أن نحيا ..”
― رضوى عاشور, أثقل من رضوى: مقاطع من سيرة ذاتية

“الصغار الذين يواجهون الدبابة في فلسطين, يفعلون عملا جنونيا, يختارون لحظة مطلقة من المعنى, والقدرة, حرية مركزة وبعدها الموت, يشترون لحظة واحدة بكل حياتهم, هذا جنون, ولكنه جنون جميل لأن اللحظة أثمن من حياة ممتدة في وحل العجز والمهانة. ”
― رضوى عاشور

“لا فائدة من وراء هذه المساعي , فكيف ينصفك عدوك , وكيف تتوقع ان يجيرك من المصائب من سببها لك !”
― رضوى عاشور, ثلاثية غرناطة

“لا ينطق الحجر لأن الله جعله، على غير البشر، معقود اللسان. و لكنه يعرف لأنه رأى كل شئ و كان شاهدا ساعة الرحيل.”
― رضوى عاشور, ثلاثية غرناطة

“وقالوا: بعيدٌ، قلت حسبي بأنه
معي في زمانٍ لا يطيق محيدا
تمر علي الشمس مثل مرورها
به كل يوم يستنير جديدا
فمن ليس بيني في المسير وبينه
سوى قطع يوم، هل يكون بعيدا؟
وعلم إله الخلق يجمعنا معاً
كفى ذا التداني، ما أريد مزيدا”
― ابن حزم الأندلسي, طوق الحمامة في الألفة والألاف

“وإن الشي ليتضاعف حسنه ، في عين مستحسنه”
― ابن حزم الأندلسي, طوق الحمامة في الألفة والألاف

“Civilized people must, I believe, satisfy the following criteria:

1) They respect human beings as individuals and are therefore always tolerant, gentle, courteous and amenable ... They do not create scenes over a hammer or a mislaid eraser; they do not make you feel they are conferring a great benefit on you when they live with you, and they don't make a scandal when they leave. (...)

2) They have compassion for other people besides beggars and cats. Their hearts suffer the pain of what is hidden to the naked eye. (...)

3) They respect other people's property, and therefore pay their debts.

4) They are not devious, and they fear lies as they fear fire. They don't tell lies even in the most trivial matters. To lie to someone is to insult them, and the liar is diminished in the eyes of the person he lies to. Civilized people don't put on airs; they behave in the street as they would at home, they don't show off to impress their juniors. (...)

5) They don't run themselves down in order to provoke the sympathy of others. They don't play on other people's heartstrings to be sighed over and cosseted ... that sort of thing is just cheap striving for effects, it's vulgar, old hat and false. (...)

6) They are not vain. They don't waste time with the fake jewellery of hobnobbing with celebrities, being permitted to shake the hand of a drunken [judicial orator], the exaggerated bonhomie of the first person they meet at the Salon, being the life and soul of the bar ... They regard prases like 'I am a representative of the Press!!' -- the sort of thing one only hears from [very minor journalists] -- as absurd. If they have done a brass farthing's work they don't pass it off as if it were 100 roubles' by swanking about with their portfolios, and they don't boast of being able to gain admission to places other people aren't allowed in (...) True talent always sits in the shade, mingles with the crowd, avoids the limelight ... As Krylov said, the empty barrel makes more noise than the full one. (...)

7) If they do possess talent, they value it ... They take pride in it ... they know they have a responsibility to exert a civilizing influence on [others] rather than aimlessly hanging out with them. And they are fastidious in their habits. (...)

8) They work at developing their aesthetic sensibility ... Civilized people don't simply obey their baser instincts ... they require mens sana in corpore sano.

And so on. That's what civilized people are like ... Reading Pickwick and learning a speech from Faust by heart is not enough if your aim is to become a truly civilized person and not to sink below the level of your surroundings.

[From a letter to Nikolay Chekhov, March 1886]”
― Anton Chekhov, A Life in Letters

“You really need to be alone when you are travelling. It's much more interesting to sit in a coach or in your room with your own thoughts than it is to be with people.”
― Anton Chekhov, A Life in Letters

“She had a passionate longing for the garden, the darkness, the pure sky, the stars.”
― Anton Chekhov

“Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.”
― Anton Chekhov

“To suffer without complaint is the only lesson we have to learn in this life”
― Vincent Willem van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Love is eternal -- the aspect may change, but not the essence. There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. The lamp was there and was a good lamp, but now it is shedding light too, and that is its real function. And love makes one calmer about many things, and that way, one is more fit for one's work.”
― Vincent Willem van Gogh

“Sana kızgın değilim.Sana kızmayacak kadar seni iyi tanıyorum.Sonra seni seviyorum.Neden sevdiğimi bilmeden seviyorum.Bu sevgiyi her gittiğim yere beraber götüreceğim.Allahaısmarladık.”
― Sabahattin Ali, İçimizdeki Şeytan

“İçimizde şeytan yok... İçimizde aciz var... Tembellik var... İradesizlik, bilgisizlik ve bunların hepsinden daha korkunç bir şey: hakikatleri görmekten kaçmak itiyadı var...”
― Sabahattin Ali, İçimizdeki Şeytan

“İçimizdeki dünya, üzerinde yaşadığımız dünyadan çok daha büyük ve karanlıktır.”
― Şebnem İşigüzel, Kirpiklerimin Gölgesi

“Ben daha çok kendi içimde yaşayan bir insanım... Bunun için size nazaran birkaç misli fazla yaşamış sayılırım.”
― Sabahattin Ali, İçimizdeki Şeytan

“İnsanlara ne kadar çok muhtaç olursam onlardan kaçmak ihtiyacım da o kadar artıyordu.”
― Sabahattin Ali, Kürk Mantolu Madonna

“Hayatta yalnız kalmanın esas olduğunu hâlâ kabul edemiyor musunuz? Bütün yakınlaşmalar, bütün birleşmeler yalancıdır. İnsanlar ancak muayyen bir hadde kadar birbirlerine sokulabilirler, üst tarafını uydururlar; ve günün birinde hatalarını anlayınca, yeislerinden her şeyi bırakıp kaçarlar. Halbuki mümkün olanla kanaat etseler, hayallerindekini hakikat zannetmekten vazgeçseler bu böyle olmaz.”
― Sabahattin Ali, Kürk Mantolu Madonna

“The pain of losing something precious - be it happiness or material wealth – can be forgotten over time. But our missed opportunities never leave us, and every time they come back to haunt us, we ache. Or perhaps what haunts us is that nagging thought that things might have turned out differently. Because without that thought, we would put it down to fate and accept it.”
― Sabahattin Ali, Kürk Mantolu Madonna