Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur'an

-Ça ne fait rien, disait monsieur Ibrahim. Ton amour pour elle, il est à toi. Il t'appartient. Même si elle le refuse, elle ne peut rien y changer. Elle n'en profite pas, c'est tout. Ce que tu donnes, Momo, c'est à toi pour toujours; ce que tu gardes, c'est perdu à jamais!

What you give, Momo, is yours forever. What you keep is lost for all time.

Monsieur Ibrahim: To find out if a country is rich or poor, look at the bins. If there are bins and no rubbish, it's rich. If there's rubbish by the bins, it's neither rich nor poor... it's touristy. And if there's rubbish but no bins, then it's poor.

Enfin, le soufisme n'était pas une maladie, ce qui m'a déjà rassuré un peu, c'était une façon de penser -même s'il y a des façons de penser qui sont aussi des maladies, disait souvent monsieur Ibrahim.

It doesn't matter,' Monsieur Ibrahim said. 'Your love for her belongs to you. It is yours. Even if she refuses it, she cannot change it. She isn't benefiting from it, that's all. What you give, Momo, is yours forever. What you keep is lost for all time!

All the highway is good for is to tell you to keep moving, there's nothing to see. That's for idiots who want to go as fast as possible from one point to another. We're not doing geometry here, we're traveling. Find me. some pretty little roads that show us all there is to see.

Nous avions le temps. Lui, parce qu'il était vieux, moi parce que j'étais jeune. [We had time. Him, because he was old, me because I was young.]

Yo habré trabajado mucho toda la vida, pero he trabajado despacio, tomándome todo el tiempo del mundo. No buscaba hacer números o ver desfilar clientes, no. Ir despacio, ése es el secreto de la felicidad.

Momo: [reading Ibrahim's will] This is my will and testament. I, Ibrahim Demirdji, hereby leave all my goods to Moses Schmitt, my son Momo because he chose me as his father and because I've given him everything I've learned in this life. Now you too will know what's in my Koran, Momo. It's all there is to know.

Le non, on l’a déjà dans notre poche, Momo. Le oui, il nous reste à l’obtenir.

Ce zici? Păi suntem la Moscheea Albastră! Un loc în care miroase a traspirație nu este de nasul tău? Ce, ție nu îți miros niciodată picioarele? Ești dezgustat de un lăcaș de rugăciune care miroase a trup de om, care este făcut pentru oameni, cu oameni înăuntru? Ai fumuri de parizian! Pe mine, mirosul ăsta de șosete mă liniștește. Îmi spun că nu sunt mai presus decât vecinul meu.

Iubirea ta este numai a ta. Îți aparține. Chiar dacă ea o refuză, nu poate schimba nimic. Doar că nu profită. Momo, ceea ce oferi rămâne la tine mereu; ceea ce păstrezi este pierdut pentru totdeauna.

[Dl.Ibrahim:] Opreste masina. Simti? Miroase a fericire, e Grecia. Oamenii par nemiscati, se opresc sa se uite dupa noi, respira. Vezi, tu, Momo, toata viata mea am muncit, dar am muncit incet, fara sa ma grabesc, nu voiam sa fac profit sau sa vad cum defileaza clientii in pravalie, nu. Lentoarea aceasta e secretul fericirii.

It's smiling that makes you happy.

- Pourquoi est-ce que tu ne souris jamais, Momo ? me demanda Monsieur Ibrahim. Ça, c'était un vrai coup de poing cette question, un coup de vache, je n'étais pas préparé. - Sourire, c'est un truc de riche, monsieur Ibrahim. J'ai pas les moyens.