I knew that if you moved around, your mind worked faster, because you were constantly seeing new things that you had to respond to.

Broad minded people dream bigger, they are very keen to meet others and share their dreams. It doesn't matter if you are an introvert, extrovert, what colour you are or what gender you are. Their mission is to offload what's inside of them and leave footprints wherever they go. These are called the world impactors.

...The men of those days...were absolutely not the same people that we are now; it was not the same race as now, in our age, really, it seems we are a different species...In those days they were men of one idea, but now we are more nervous, more developed, more sensitive; men capable of two or three ideas at once...Modern men are broader-minded - and I swear that this prevents their being so all-of-a-piece as they were in those days.

If, by chance, you were to meet me at the Casablanca airport or on a boat sailing from Tangiers, you would think me self-confident, but I am not. Even now, at my age, I am frightened when crossing borders because I am afraid of failing to understand strangers.

To me, the Quran is a research book.

In the 1920s, big names in the Arab world spoke of Scheherazade as an example for intellectuals fighting for their rights. She was a fighter for the right of free expression.