Ruby Emam > Ruby's Quotes

“From the will of a freedom-fighter, Farzad Kamangar:
"Is it possible to be a teacher and not show the path to the sea to the little fish of the country?
Is it possible to carry the heavy burden of being a teacher and be responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge and still be silent? Is it possible to see the lumps in the throats of the students and witness their thin and malnourished faces and keep quiet? …
I cannot imagine witnessing the pain and poverty of the people of this land and fail to give our hearts to the river and the sea, to the roar and the flood.”
― Samad Beh-Rang

“I might face death any minute now! But I should try not to put myself in harms' way as long as I can live. Of course it is not important if I die, because this is going to happen anyway. I know my purpose, my purpose is: How will my life or death impact the lives of others?”
― Samad Beh-Rang, The Little Black Fish

“Children’s literature must build a bridge between the colorful dream world full of fantasy and illusion, and a tougher real world full of twists and turns. The child armed with the torch of knowledge, awareness and guidance must cross this bridge and set foot to the intense harshness of the bigger world.”
An In-Depth Analysis of Educational Deadlock”
― Samad Beh-Rang

“...Shouldn`t we tell the child that in your country there are boys and girls who have never seen a piece of meat on their plates? Shouldn`t we tell the child that more than half of the world`s population are hungry, and why they are hungry, and how hunger could be diminished? Shouldn`t we give the child a true and logical understanding of the history and development of human societies?…"
An In-Depth Analysis of Educational Deadlock”
― Samad Beh-Rang

“The greatest book is not the one whose message engraves itself on the brain, as a telegraphic message engraves itself on the ticker-tape, but the one whose vital impact opens up other viewpoints, and from writer to reader spreads the fire that is fed by the various essences, until it becomes a vast conflagration leaping from forest to forest.”
― Romain Rolland

“Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”
― Dale Wasserman, Man of La Mancha: A Musical Play

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
— Mark Twain
Beh-Rang was a critic of "an educational system that does not offer anything other than limited reading and writing."
Beh-Rang”
― Samad Beh-Rang, The Little Black Fish

“The greatest book is not the one whose message engraves itself on the brain as a telegraphic message engraves itself on the ticker-tape but the one whose vital impact opens up other viewpoints and from writer to reader spreads the fire that is fed by the various essences until it becomes a vast conflagration leaping from forest to forest.
Romain Rolland”
― Ruby Emam

“It is better to die fighting than to die on your knees.”
― Emiliano Zapata

“I read a book one day and my whole life was changed” starts Orhan Pamuk to his famous and brilliantly written book: The New Life. Some books just strike you with the very first sentence, and generally those are the ones that leave a mark in your memory and soul, the ones that make you read, come back many years later and read again, and have the same pleasure each time. I was lucky enough to have a father who was passionate about literature, so passionate that he would teach me how to read at the age of five. The very first book he bought for me was “The Little Black Fish” by Samad Behrangi. After that I started reading his other books, and at that age I had already owned a small Behrangi collection. Recently I was talking with a Persian friend about how Behrangi and his books changed my life. A girl, from another country, from kilometeters away, around the same time was also reading Behrangi’s books, and creating her own imaginary worlds with his rich and deep characters, and intense stories.”
― Samad Beh-Rang, The Little Black Fish

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

“Life is a joke, even though it is not always funny.”
― Stephan Attia

“Women's freedom is the sign of social freedom.”
― Rosa Luxemburg

“[1965]

To my children

Dear Hildita, Aleidita, Camilo, Celia, And Ernesto,

If you ever have to read this letter, it will be because I am no longer with you. You practically will not remember me, and the smaller ones will not remember me at all.

Your father has been a man who acted on his beliefs and has certainly been loyal to his convictions.

Grow up as good revolutionaries. Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature. Remember that the revolution is what is important, and each one of us, alone is worth nothing.

Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.

Until forever, my children. I still hope to see you.

A great big kiss and a big hug from,

Papa”
― Che Guevara

“I should like to freeze in time all those I do love...Rather like flowers pressed between the pages of a book!”
― Sharon Kay Penman

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
― Jack London

“If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
― Albert Einstein

“The true measure of a man is not his intelligence or how high he rises in this freak establishment. No, the true measure of a man is this: how quickly can he respond to the needs of others and how much of himself he can give.”
― Philip K. Dick

“Remembering the great Revolutionary Lyricist Yip Harberg, let us enjoy his famous song called "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".”
― Yip Harberg

“The measure of love is to love without measure.”
― Francis de Sales

“Tell the children the truth.”
― Bob Marley

“You know you're in a good place when you no longer are interested in looking back. You prefer to enjoy the journey.”
― Karen Salmansohn

“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”
― Frank Zappa

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”
― Oscar Wilde

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).”
― Mark Twain

“Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”
― Mark Twain

“The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“And if you can’t shape your life the way you want, at least try as much as you can not to degrade it...”
― Constantine P. Cavafy/Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης

“I have no enemies. But my friends don't like me.”
― Philip Larkin