The Things I Would Tell You Quotes

“The culture – folklore, family history, geography – was soaked into the background of my life.”
― Samira Shackle, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“The old language of colonialism surfaces once again.”
― Ahdaf Soueif, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“But in today's world a separatist option does not exist; a version of this common ground is where we all, finally, must live if we are to live at all. And yet the loudest voices are the ones that deny its very existence...”
― Ahdaf Soueif, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“Thinking about it now, I see this as my first serious exposure to the 'with us or against us' mentality; the mentality that forces you to self-identify as one thing despite your certain knowledge that you are a bit of this and a bit of that.”
― Ahdaf Soueif, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“The delicate balance they've cultivated between their Muslim and Western identities is a source of personal pride, but in reality they're pariahs — far too outspoken for their ethnic side and too prudish and traditional for the West.”
― Triska Hamid, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“Us and Them. She thought on these words. Her daughter was both, but that wouldn't matter to them. That word again. Us and Them. Peace and Terror. Right and Wrong. Questions philosophers had centuries over been unable to answer and yet now everyone seemed to be so sure they knew.”
― Chimene Suleyman, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“Cutting someone's heart out with a spoon would be an unwise thing to do.”
― Chimene Suleyman, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write

“Mama taught me to be wary of handing him all my glory at once. He must also do some polishing of edges. Nooks”
― Sabrina Mahfouz, The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write