Europe clearly is the only place where people can speak up critically, and this is a unique cultural value.
When there is enough oxygen in the air for everyone, no one is going to take to violence in order to access it. But if there were not enough of it for everyone then people would result to violence in order to get it. Therefore we have to improve the conditions to have better human beings.
Every time I am fearful I think to myself, the reason they do this is to discourage me from doing what I do. Hence, if I discontinue my work I will have succumbed to my fears.
There is no “true Islam,” just different interpretations.
I have never been convinced throughout my life that one needs to be imitating others. I even tell my daughters not to look at me as a model.
Everyone’s condition is different, and the way that each person lives his or her life is different.
Islam is not an excuse for thwarting democracy.
I have never had a governmental position, and I will never accept such a position.
People are fundamentally good. But conditions deteriorate them.
It is totally unacceptable for a government to interfere in the internal affairs of another government and send aid, money, and weapons, to the people who are against a certain regime in another country.
The most important problem in Iran is that the courts have lost their independence, and they are under the influence of the Ministry of Intelligence and their people. This is why we witness a number of journalists and human rights activists, my colleagues, and a number of feminists, in prison.
North Americans do not understand that you do not throw down human rights like bombs on the Iraqis.
I have never agreed with President Bush’s argument regarding the axis of evil. Unfortunately, fundamentalists in Iran have used this as an excuse to brand us as allies of Mr. Bush.
I have said many times that I wish there was no oil in the Middle East, and more water. People would have been much happier than they are.
Terrorism is based on two major pillars: One is injustice, and the other is a certainty of attitude, the notion that their version of the story is the correct one.
Certainly, the fight against terrorism is a legitimate fight. And certainly whoever commits terrorism should be brought to justice.
Human rights is the fruit of various civilizations.
Sixty-three percent of our university students are female. But you still see violations of women’s rights in Iran. A Muslim man can have up to four wives. He can divorce his wife without offering any reason, while it is quite difficult for a woman to get a divorce.
When the gravity of death first touched me, I’d found preoccupation with the minutiae of daily life meaningless. If we ultimately die, and turn to dust in the ground, should it ever truly upset us if the floor hasn’t been swept quite recently enough.
We adapted to being at war, just as we had adapted to the chaos and upheaval of revolution. How amazing and yet tragic it is, I thought, the human instinct for.
Under the Iranian code, the worth of a woman’s life equals half of a man’s, a point that often leads to grotesque legal judgments that effectively punish the victims. In this instance, the judge ruled that the ‘blood money’ for the two men was worth more than the life of the murdered nine-year-old girl, and he demanded that her family come up with thousands of dollars to finance their executions.