I, as a Muslim woman living in 1993, I want to have two things - the mosque and the satellite, both at the same time. And no one can mutilate me by telling me I cannot have the mosque or the Koran.

Writing is one of the most ancient forms of prayer. To write is to believe communication is possible that other people are good, that you can awaken their generosity and their desire to do better.

The real mistake of women was to let the memoir, the collective, the history, space of producing history - to let it in the hands of men.

Nature is woman's best friend,' she [Yasmina] often said. 'If you're having troubles, you just swim in the water, stretch out in a field, or look up at the stars. That's how a woman cures her fears'.

Being frozen into the passive position of an object whose very existence depends on the eye of its beholder turn the educated modern Western women into a harem slave.

Maturity is when you start feeling the motion of zaman (time) as if it is a sensuous caress. p.216

Pessimism is the luxury of the powerful.

I am intelligent enough to be critical towards the West and take what I need and reject what is bad for me.

Morocco is such a beautiful place. It's incredibly beautiful. And also it is captivating place because for a writer, you feel that you make impact.

Someone else is going to read for me or go at my place to the mosque, and/or to tell me you shouldn't take anything from the West because the West is the enemy and so on. It is to me to decide.

But when your situation is hopeless, all you can do is turn the world upside down, transform it according to your wishes, and create anew.

There's no way you can wake up today, only to repeat yesterday's routine, and except better results tomorrow. Change is a must or growth is impossible.

Joy is immeasurable cheerfulness.

Doesn't everyone deserve their own version of a happily-ever-after?

The way to a landowner's heart was to tax gently.

The job of the screenplay is to identify and extract the essence of the story from the novel and reconfigure it for the screen, maintaining its essence in a different vehicle.

Irish Catholics are more interested in the rosary beads than in the rosary.

The United States is not just an old cow that gives more milk the more it's kicked in the flanks

I want to have time. When you're doing a monthly book, you're like a man racing after a bus. You're breathless and red-faced. I want to build in quality control.

I can't say what I'm going to wear all the time. The minute that I say that, then there's something in me that tips off and then I need to break out of that.

As a slave [to fashion], I can be very dramatic and very demanding of myself and of the people I work with.