Quotes from Balthasar's Odyssey

“لقد قرأت بعض الكتب فقط للتقليل من جهلي !”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“حين يصبح الإيمان حقوداً ، بورك الذين يشككون !”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“أنا الذي أشكك بكل شيء ، كيف لا أشكك كذلك بشكوكي ؟”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“ما جدوى السفر حول العالم لرؤية ما يكمن أصلا في قرارة النفس ؟”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“غيري يكتب كما يتكلم ، و أنا أكتب كما ألتزم الصمت”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“وفي صلواتي صرت أرغب أن ابتهل قائلاً
يارب لاتنأى عني كثيراً ولا تقترب مني كثيراً كذلك !
دعني أتأمل النجوم على أهداب ثوبك ولكن لا تكشف لي عن وجهك !
اسمح لي أن أسمع خرير الأنهار التي تجعلها تجري والريح التي تنفخ في الأشجار وضحكات الأطفال الذين قد خلقتهم ولكن إلهي إلهي لا تسمح لي أن أسمع صوتك !”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“فطبيعتى المتشككة التى أنشأنى عليها والدى تقينى من إستفاضات الإيمان العارمة - أو ربما يجدر بي القول إنها تحظر على أى ثبات , سواء فى الحفاظ على التعقل أو فى السعى وراء الأوهام”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“Cette recommandation (Aime ton prochain comme toi-même) paraît, à première vue, irréprochable mais à voir ce que la plupart des gens font de leur vie, à voir ce qu'ils font de leur intelligence, je n'ai pas envie qu'ils m'aiment comme eux-mêmes.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“كم اشتهي أن أتذوق أيضا و أيضا ، تلك المتعة المرتسمة .لا لحرصي على إبقائها طاهرة للأبد . غير أني لم أمل تلك الجيرة المبهمة ، و ذلك التواطؤ المتعاظم ، و تلك الرغبة الحبلى بالمحن العذبة ، أي باختصار تلك الدرب التي نسلكها معا ، مبتهجين سرا ، و زاعمين في كل مرة أن العناية الإلهية وحدها التي تدفع أحدنا نحو الأخر.
تلك الرغبة تسحرني و لست على يقين من رغبتي بالعبور الى الجهة الأخرى من التلال .
أعرف أنها لعبة لا تخلو من الخطورة . ففي أية لحظة قد تحرقنا النيران ، و لكن كم كانت نهاية العالم تلوح بعيدة نائية في تلك الليلة.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“La route quelquefois s'agrémente de fables, comme le sommeil s'agrémente de songes, il faut savoir ouvrir les yeux à l'arrivée.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“هذه المرأة لم تشبع في قرارة نفسي شهوة الجسد التي تعتري الرحالة بل لطَّفت محنتي الأولى. فقد ولدت غريباً، وعشت غريباً، وسوف أموت وقد تعاظمت غربتي. وغروري يمنعني من ذكر العداء، والإهانات، والضغينة، والمعاناة. ولكن النظرات والحركات لا تخفي عليَّ. فعناق بعض النساء يلوح كالمنفى، وعناق بعضهن الآخر يذكر بالأرض الأم”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“What's a year in comparison with eternity? what's a day? an hour? a second? Such measures have meaning only for a heart that's still beating.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“I look at the world and my own life as if I were a stranger. I wish for nothing, except perhaps that time would stop.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“...people always manage to 'prove' what they want to believe; they'd be just as well off if they tried to prove the opposite.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“What strange times we live in, when good must disguise itself in the tawdry rags of evil!”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“Some women's arms are places of exile; others are a native land.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“Perhaps writing only arouses the passions in order to allay them, as beaters flush out the game in order to expose it to the hunter's arrows.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“So I've become an exile without ever leaving my country.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“Some women's arms are placed of exile; others are a native land.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

“...it's better to wake up amid the pangs of desire than amid those of remorse.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey

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