Thus the regime has deprived Iranian women not just of their present rights, but also of their history and their past.

Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.

I see people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization, reductionism and superficiality.

Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent.

That, of course, is what great works of imagination do for us: They make us a little restless, destabilize us, question our preconceived notions and formulas.

I no longer believe that we can keep silent. We never really do, mind you. In one way or another we articulate what has happened to us through the kind of people we become.

You need imagination in order to imagine a future that doesn't exist.

It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom.

The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream.

I eat my heart out alone.

I am suddenly left alone again on the sunny path, with a memory of the rain.

Write what will stop your breath if you don’t write.

Not belonging is a terrible feeling. It feels awkward and it hurts, as if you were wearing someone else's shoes.

The ‘machine-gun’ approach to photography – by which many negatives are made with the hope that one will be good – is fatal to serious results.

I've lost bags all over the world and had cases end up in London, Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Miami.

Pour away despair and rinse the cup. Eat happiness like bread.

It's easier to make an album, harder to figure out how to get people to notice it.

Rest, rest, rest, rest, rest. Nutrition is obviously very important, but rest is equally important. At rest is when your body is trying to recover.

When you fall in love with someone's personality everything about them becomes beautiful.

No missionary can determine the lasting effects of his or her labors.

The attempt to remove evil from the world by killing a thousand evil - doers, only adds to the evil in the world.