Quotes from The Complete Persepolis

“It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“The regime had understood that one person leaving her house while asking herself:
Are my trousers long enough?
Is my veil in place?
Can my make-up be seen?
Are they going to whip me?

No longer asks herself:
Where is my freedom of thought?
Where is my freedom of speech?
My life, is it liveable?
What's going on in the political prisons?”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“We can only feel sorry for ourselves when our misfortunes are still supportable. Once this limit is crossed, the only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“In every religion, you find the same extremists.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Anyway, that's how it is! Either they obey the law, or they're expelled!! And make sure they wear their veils correctly..." - "If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your moustache!" My father actually said that.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“I rushed to the living room to protect myself from I don't know what, behind my best friend, a book.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“War always takes you by surprise.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Rule number six: Everybody should have a car
Rule number seven: All maids should eat at the table with the others
Rule number eight: No old person should have to suffer

Grandmother: In that case, I'll be your first disciple.
Persepolis: Really?
Grandmother: But tell me how you'll arrange for old people not to suffer?
Persepolis: It will simply be forbidden.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“People don't know anymore why we've had eight years of war. Why their children have died...This entire war was just a big setup to destroy both the Iranian and the Iraqi armies. The former was the most powerful in the Middle East in 1980, and the latter represented a real danger to Israel. The West sold weapons to both camps and we, we were stupid enough to enter into this cynical game...eight years of war for nothing! So now the state names streets after martyrs to flatter the families of the victims. In this way, perhaps, they'll find some meaning in all this absurdity.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“The Shah stayed on the throne until 1979, when he fled Iran to escape the Islamic revolution.
Since then, this old and great civilization has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has lived more than half of my life in Iran, I know that this image is far from the truth. This is why writing "Persepolis" was so important to me. I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists. I also don't want those Iranians who lost their lives in prisons defending freedom, who died in the war against Iraq, who suffered under various repressive regimes, or who were forced to leave their families and flee their homeland to be forgotten.
One can forgive but one should never forget.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“The Germans sell chemical weapons to Iran and Iraq. The wounded are then sent to Germany to be treated. Veritable human guinea pigs.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“I learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“I wanted to be an educated, liberated woman. And if the pursuit of knowledge meant getting cancer, so be it.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Despite the doctor’s orders, I bought myself several cartons of cigarettes (…) I think that I preferred to put myself in serious danger rather than confront my shame. My shame at not having become someone, the shame of not having made my parents proud after all the sacrifices they had made for me. The shame of having become a mediocre nihilist.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“En la vida encontrarás muchos imbéciles. Si te hieren, piensa que es su estupidez la que les empuja a hacerte daño. Así evitarás responder a su maldad. Porque no hay nada peor en el mundo que el rencor y la venganza... Mantén siempre tu dignidad, tu integridad y la fidelidad a ti misma (p.159)”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“cuando entré en su habitación estaba llorando... No pertenecíamos a la misma clase social, pero al menos estabamos en la misma cama”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Don't let it get to you, mom! The Western media also fights against us. That's where our reputation as fundamentalists and terrorists comes from."
"You're right. Between one's fanaticism and the other's disdain, it's hard to know which side to choose. Personally, I hate Saddam and I have no sympathy for the Kuwaitism but I hate just as much the cynicism of the allies who call themselves "liberators" while they're there for the oil."
"Exactly. Just look at Afghanistan! They fought there for ten years. There were 900,000 dead and today the country is still in chaos. No one lifted a finger! Because Afghanistan is poor! The worst is that the intervention in Kuwait is done in the name of the human rights! Which rights? Which humans?"
At the time, this kind of analysis wasn't commonplace. After our own war, we were happy that Iraq got itself attacked and delighted that it wasn't happening in our country. We were finally able to sleep peacefully without fear of missiles... We no longed needed to line up with our food ration coupon...the rest mattered little. And then, there wasn't any more opposition. The protesters had been executed. Or had fled the country any way possible. The regime had absolute power...and most people , in search of a cloud of happiness, had forgotten their political conscience.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“I wanted to be justice, love and the wrath of God all in one”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“El motivo de mi vergüenza y de la revolución es el mismo la diferencia de clase social”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Preferiría que estuviera vivo y encarcelado que muerto como un héroe”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Dans ta vie tu rencontreras beaucoup de cons. S'ils te blessent, dis-toi que c'est la bêtise qui les pousse à te faire du mal. Ça t'évitera de répondre à leur méchanceté. Car il n'y a rien de pire au monde que l'amertume et la vengeance. .. Reste toujours digne et intègre à toi même.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“They found records and video-cassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that's banned.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“To die a martyr is to inject blood into the veins of society”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“And so I was lost, without any bearings... what could be worse than that?”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Chouka era muy divertida. Por desgracia, cuando dos años más tarde se casó, su esposo le prohibió verme. Para él, yo era una persona amoral”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE LIVED BADLY”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“Guns may shoot and knives may carve, but we won't wear your silly scarves!”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

“With this first cigarette, I kissed childhood goodbye. Now I was a grown-up.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from The Complete Persepolis

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“El teléfono estaba sobre la colcha, pequeño, negro y siniestro. Lo miró sin tocarlo. Bip-bip. Aterrada. Bip-bip. Su zumbido iba mezclándose con las palabras de la canción, como si formase parte de ella. Porque los contrabandistas, seguían diciendo los Tigres, ésos no perdonan nada. El Güero había usado las mismas palabras, riendo como solía hacerlo, mientras le acariciaba la nuca y le tiraba el teléfono encima de la falda. Si alguna vez suena, es que me habré muerto. Entonces, corre. Cuanto puedas, prietita. Corre y no pares, porque ya no estaré allí para ayudarte. Y si llegas viva a donde sea, échate un tequila en mi memoria. Por los buenos ratos, mi chula. Por los buenos ratos.”
― Arturo Pérez-Reverte, quote from La reina del sur

“When was the last time you were kissed?" he went on easily. "And I'm not talking about the dry, noncommittal, meaningless kiss you forget about as soon as it's over."

I scrambled out of my stupor long enough to quip, "Like last night's kiss?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "That so? I wonder, then, why you moaned my name after you drifted to sleep."

"I did not!"

"If only I'd had a video recorder. When was the last time you were really kissed?" he repeated.

"You seriously think I'm going to tell you?"

"Your ex?" he guessed.

"And if he was?"

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"Do you really want to pretend like last night never happened?"

"Whatever happened between me and Calvin isn't your business,” I fired back.

"For your information, he was a really great boyfriend. I-I wish I was with him right now!" I exclaimed untruthfully. My careless comment made him flinch, but he recovered quickly.

"Does he love you?"

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"If you know him so well, it shouldn't be a hard question. Is he in love with you? Was he ever in love with you?"

I tossed my head back haughtily. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to cut him down because you're-you're jealous of him!"

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“Elise asked what nostalgic meant, and Jewel said, “It’s where you think the past was better than it really was, only because the present sucks so bad.”
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“This was the body of a beautiful young woman, conventionally an object of desire, and yet it was a body from which all desire had been eliminated.”
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