Any person who pursues human rights in Iran must live with fear from birth to death, but I have learned to overcome my fear.

The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.

It's not just about hope and ideas. It's about action.

Lawyers have a dangerous job in Iran.

Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.

Women are the victims of this patriarchal culture, but they are also its carriers. Let us keep in mind that every oppressive man was raised in the confines of his mother's home.

I maintain that nothing useful and lasting can emerge from violence.

How can you defy fear? Fear is a human instinct, just like hunger. Whether you like it or not, you become hungry. Similarly with fear. But I have learned to train myself to live with this fear.

If you can't eliminate injustice, at least tell everyone about it.

When a person is humiliated, when his rights are being violated, and he does not have the proper education, naturally he gravitates toward terrorism.

We must not enable anyone to impose his personal view regarding religion on others by force, oppression, or pressure.

Never let anyone define who you are or decide who you should become.

When he leaned in to kiss me, the future swirled before me, bright as sunlight on creek water.

If your way of life is writing, then everything that happens becomes a sentence.

I'm not going to become anybody I don't want to become

One must desire something to be alive; perhaps absolute satisfaction is only another name for Death.

Opportunity expands when there is excellence and choice in education.

Hold the door for an old man. Old ladies can take care of themselves; they've been doing it long enough.

The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation; through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.