I had a story-telling mother; she's written novels and short stories. So I feel like maybe I'm staying alive by telling tales.

The first question [American college kids] asked me was, 'What state is Kuwait in?' They thought Kuwait was in America.

If you've ever seen album covers for Arab female pop stars, it looks like the designer was paid five dollars to make them, and the extreme femaleness is astounding.

I'm fascinated by evil queens. They're very alluring and repellent at the same time, and I'm into that dichotomy.

The vast majority of women musicians function under singular names like 'Cher' 'Madonna'. They have to get married almost immediately to preserve their honour.

There are very few pop people I'm interested in working with.

I feel like there is an emphasis against teaching geography in American schools. Americans don't say, "I'm going to Germany." They say, "I'm going to Europe."

I was one of five out of 100 people who passed the test, which just proved to me how little Americans are taught geography.

I've never been to China. I only know what the West is telling me about China.

My music doesn't exist in a vacuum; there's a script and there's an actor and it's about to come together.

I still think you people need to be curious [in order to absorb the culture]. You need to search Uzbekistani pop music.

Yes, be different, but not for the vanities of being different.

I did apply for more than 200 scholarships and finally I got one, but you are telling me now “God gave it to me!” Don’t you think you are too stupid?

To operate а tank as a crew, it's not about five individuals. It has to be one organism, composed of five people.

What draws us into the desert is the search for something intimate in the remote.

I really shine in front of prominently Jewish crowds. Normally I really beat myself up, but as far as Jewish audiences go, I'm at the top of my game.

The vertical and the horizontal are the extreme signs available to man for touching the beyond and his inwardness.

All training is negotiation, whether you're training dogs or spouses

All my life Ive known better than to depend on the experts. How could I have been so stupid, to let them go ahead?

History takes place between the Fall and the Apocalypse, with a narrow escape route called Salvation.

I read somewhere that when a person takes part in community action, his health improves. Something happens to him or to her biologically. It's like a tonic.