Marwan

“سأنجب طفلا أسميه آدم.. لأن الاسامى فى زماننا تهمة.. فلن أسميه محمد ولا عيسى.. لن أسميه عليا ولا عمرا.. لن أسميه صداما ولا حسينا.. ولا حتى زكريا أو إبراهيم.. ولا حتى ديفيد ولا جورج.. أخاف أن يكبر عنصريا وأن يكون له من اسمه نصيب.. فعند الأجانب يكون إرهابيا.. وعند المتطرفين يكون بغيا.. وعند الشيعة يكون سنيا.. وعند السنة يكون علويا أو شيعيا.. أخاف أن يكون اسمه جواز سفره. أريده آدم مسلم مسيحى.. أريده أن لا يعرف من الدين إلا أنه لله.. وأريده أن يعرف أن الوطن للجميع.. سأعلمه أن الدين ما وقر فى قلبه وصدقه وعمله وليس اسمه،...سأعلمه أن العروبة وهم.. وإن الإنسانية هى الأهم.. سأعلمه أن الجوع كافر والجهل كافر والظلم كافر.... سأعلمه أن الله فى القلوب قبل المساجد والكنائس...، وأن الله محبة وليس مخافة.. سأعلمه ما نسى أهلنا أن يعلمونا.. سأعلمه أن ما ينقصنا هو ما عندنا.. وأن ما عندنا هو الذى ينقصنا.. سأعلمه أنى بدأت حديثى بأننى سأنجبه ذكرا.. لأن الأنثى ما زالت توأد.. وأن الخلل باق فى المجتمع العربي”
― محمد الماغوط

“DEAR DI­ARY
You are greater than the Bible
And the Con­fer­ence of the Birds
And the Up­an­ishads
All put to­geth­er
You are more se­vere
Than the Scrip­tures
And Ham­mura­bi’s Code
More dan­ger­ous than Luther’s pa­per
Nailed to the Cathe­dral door
You are sweet­er
Than the Song of Songs
Might­ier by far
Than the Epic of Gil­gamesh
And braver
Than the Sagas of Ice­land
I bow my head in grat­itude
To the ones who give their lives
To keep the se­cret
The dai­ly se­cret
Un­der lock and key
Dear Di­ary
I mean no dis­re­spect
But you are more sub­lime
Than any Sa­cred Text
Some­times just a list
Of my events
Is holi­er than the Bill of Rights
And more in­tense”
― Leonard Cohen, Book of Longing

“In 1787, at an inn near Moulins, an old man was dying, a friend of Diderot, trained by the philosophers. The priests of the neighbourhood were nonplussed: they had tried everything in vain; the good man would have no last rites, he was a pantheist. M. de Rollebon, who was passing by and who believed in nothing, bet the Cure of Moulins that he would need less than two hours to bring the sick man back to Christian sentiments. The Cure took the bet and lost: Rollebon began at three in the morning, the sick man confessed at five and died at seven. “Are you so forceful in argument?” asked the Cure, “You outdo even us.” “I did not argue,” answered M. de Rollebon, “I made him fear Hell.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea

“There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt. It's true that there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it's more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They're opposites. If we're in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we're in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.”
― Elisabeth Kubler Ros