The Lion Women of Tehran Quotes

“When I am surrounded by books, I feel most at peace.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“While to our eyes, waves appear suddenly on the shore, their abruptness is an illusion. Waves begin their journey thousands of miles out at sea. They accumulate shape and power from winds and undersea currents for ages. And so, when you see the women in Iran screaming for their rights, please remember that the force and fury of our screams have been gathering power for years.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“That's how losses of rights build. They start small. And then soon, the rights are stripped in droves.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“It was books. I read and read. Went to the library as much as I could. And to bookstores. Lost myself in books. Did you know that books can heal you? They helped restore me.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Ocean waves begin their journey thousands of miles out at sea. Their form, size, and shape come from the speed of prevailing winds in the atmosphere, the power of currents hidden beneath the sea, and their “long fetch”—the distance between a wave’s point of origin and its point of arrival… Events that seem to appear in the present from out of nowhere in actuality have a long history behind them. George Lipsitz, Footsteps in the Dark Part One”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Lionesses. Us. Can't you just see it Ellie? Someday, you and me — we'll do great things. We'll live life for ourselves. And we will help others. We are cubs now, maybe. But we will grow to be lionesses. Strong women who will make things happen.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“And then. We lost touch.
Our bond should have been impossible to fray and then disintegrate. But as time took us each in a different direction, it was astonishingly simple for our connection to dissolve.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“I recently read a theory about ocean waves. This theory says that while to our eyes waves appear suddenly on the shore, their abruptness is an illusion. Waves begin their journey thousands of miles out at sea. They accumulated shape and power from winds and undersea currents for ages. And so when you see the women screaming in Iran for their rights, please remember, dear Leily, that the force and fury of our screams have been gathering power for years.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“You skipped our country’s slide back into medieval times. Women have lost decades, no, centuries, of rights in this country.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“My baba says the only society worth living in is one where everyone has access to food, shelter, clean water, and health services.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Remember above all to always love. Love madly”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Freedom has no musts.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“You know what we’ll both become when we grow up? … Shir zan. Lionesses. Us … Strong women who make things happen.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Doesn’t matter who owns the rug workshops,” Homa went on. “It’s the women who do the knotting. It’s women doing the weaving. The art of Iranian women is scattered throughout the world. Their work is everywhere.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“And yet. Ours was a friendship worth saving. Worth keeping. Worth protecting. For I knew Homa’s heart was pure. I admired her inability to ever be fake. She was the most authentic person I knew. And I valued our friendship too much to let this recent argument stymie us.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“That’s how losses of rights build. They start small. And then soon, the rights are stripped in droves.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Blame the relief that comes when someone who’s disappeared from your life reappears and conjures up the same magic and re-creates a longed-for connection.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“But the truth is I so prefer the bravery of your generation of women. That’s what I admire. You’re not afraid. You’re fierce. You and your friends are shir zan!” The Persian phrase that translates to “lion women”.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“How long will she be here, in this country where no one can pronounce her name?”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Let them beat me with their batons, let them bruise my body to a pulp, let them shoot and kill me. For a lifetime we have fought. We have fought and fought and fought. We want to be free. We want to be equal. We want to be able to live our lives.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“I resign officially and in my heart from the communist organization. Whereas I had once fought for human rights, I now fight to stay afloat.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Homa wanted to pour her life into politics. I wanted to enjoy a life devoid of it. Even though I knew that was an impossibility in Iran.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Mother said the country had become divided into three political factions: monarchist, communist, and pro–Prime Minister Mossadegh. She taught me to not say anything that would rock the boat.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“When my life was no longer anything, Nothing but the tick-tock of a wall clock, I discovered that I must, That I absolutely had to Love madly. Forugh Farrokhzad, The Window”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“My mother always said the envy of others invites”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Events that seem to appear in the present from out of nowhere in actuality have a long history behind them. George Lipsitz”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“That’s how losses of rights build. They start small. And then soon”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“Homa had made me feel like the world could be ours. But she always wanted to change the world and improve it”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“But what most made me love Homa was her good-natured ability to put aside the competition and make things fun.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran

“... I look at you ... and I wish for you not the world, nor the owning of it, nor even success in it.
I wish for you the ability to be free.
And I hope that you experience some moments so tender and dear that they make up for a thousand harsh ones.
Remember above all to always love.
Love madly.”
― Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran