Marjane Satrapi citations

“One can forgive but one should never forget.”

“I have always thought that if women's hair posed so many problems, God would certainly have made us bald.”

“In any case, it's the cowardice of people like you who give dictators the chance to install themselves!”

“To speak behind others' backs is the ventilator of the heart.”

“It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.”

“I finally understood what my grandmother meant. If I wasn't comfortable with myself, I would never be comfortable.”

“We can only feel sorry for ourselves when our misfortunes are still supportable. Once this limit is crossed, the only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it.”

“Nothing's worse than saying goodbye. It's a little like dying.”

“When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.”

“I had learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor.”

“I want to be justice, love and the wrath of God all in one.”

“You know, they say in France that translation is like a woman: she is either beautiful or faithful.”

“Once again, I arrived at my usual conclusion: one must educate oneself.”

“Culture and education are the lethal weapons against all kinds of fundamentalism.”

“In every religion, you find the same extremists.”

“I realized then that I didn't understand anything. I read all the books I could.”

“Life is absolutely unbearable. And we're going to die.”

“Anyway, that's how it is! Either they obey the law, or they're expelled!! And make sure they wear their veils correctly…" - "If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your moustache!" My father actually said that.”

“I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the West. I had no identity. I didn't even know anymore why I was living.”

“Teacher: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Marji: I'll be a prophet.”

“The words are not the same and the feeling is not the same. You know, they say in France that translation is like a woman. She is either beautiful or faithful. So it’s better when she’s beautiful because when she’s too faithful it might be very ugly. This is French people. This translation, though, is very well made. This is my American editor, who knows me very well who has made the translation. But in any translation you lose a little bit.”