Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.

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.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

Shoot for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud.

I express myself in sculpture since I am not a poet.

Because God is better than we think we have to change the way we think.

The soul who is most untouched is the most like to God.

I was the youngest of five, and I think my mother always knew I was meant to be an actress.

The only way art lives is through the experience of the observer. The reality of art begins with the eyes of the beholder, through imagination, invention and confrontation.

Who then will explain the explanation?

My mother is Greek and my father is Bulgarian. I am a first-generation American and native Los Angeleno. I was born and raised in Hollywood.

If there is any secret to my success, I think it's that my characters are very real to me. I feel everything they feel, and therefore I think my readers care about them.