Afef > Afef's Quotes

“They say, that when I was born,
my mother taught me to suck the milk.
And every night beside my crib,
she taught me to sleep as soft as silk.
With a smile she pressed her lips to mine,
till my mouth with joy oversplit.
She took my hand and guided my foot,
till I learned to walk with a happy lilt.
One word, two words, then three and more...
that's how she taught me to talk.
That's why my life is part of her life,
and will remain so as long as I live”
― Iraj Mirza Persian Poet

“Perverse times have come
The mystery of the Beloved to reveal

Crows have begun to hunt hawks,
Sparrows have vanquished falcons.
Horse browse on rubbish,
Donkeys graze on lush green.
No love is lost between relatives,
Be they younger or older uncles.

There is no accord between fathers and sons,
nor any between mothers and daughters.
The truthful ones are being pushed about,
the tricksters are seated close by,
the front-liners have become wretched,
the backbenchers sit on carpets.
Those in taters have turned into Kings,
The Kings have taken to begging.
Oh Bullah, comes the command from the Lord,
who can ever alter His decree?

Perverse times have come,
The mystery of the beloved to reveal”
― Bullhe Shāh

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
― Dante Alighieri

“Awake, arise or be for ever fall’n.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“Still paying, still to owe.
Eternal woe! ”
― John Milton

“It was hollow, my triumph, I could feel that, but I held on to it just the same.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy

“Looking at the horizon again, I saw a lone figure coming toward me, but I wasn't frightened because I was sure it was my mother. As I got closer to the figure, I could see that it wasn't my mother, but still I wasn't frightened because I could see that it was a woman.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, At the Bottom of the River

“Once you cease to be a master, once you throw off your master's yoke, you are no longer human rubbish, you are a human being, and all the things that adds up to. So, too, with the slaves. Once they are no longer slaves, once they are free, they are no longer noble and exalted; they are just human beings.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place

“On their way to freedom, some people find riches, some people find death.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy

“What I don't write is as important as what I write.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Generations of Women: In Their Own Words

“I wish that I could love someone so much that I would die from it.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy

“this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming;”
― Jamaica Kincaid, At the Bottom of the River

“That was the moment he got the idea he possessed me in a certain way, and that was the moment I grew tired of him.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy

“Why is a picture of something real eventually more exciting than the thing itself?”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy