Quotes from The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist

169 pages

Rating: (1.8K votes)


“أوقعتني الشجاعة في مأزق لم أنجو منه إلا بمزيد من هذه الشجاعة”
― quote from The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist


“أؤمن بأن هذا الشعب لا يفنى”
― quote from The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist


“ما هكذا فعل قائدنا أبو ركوة (الوليد بن هشام بن المغيرة) قبل ألف عام. فلما رأى الناس يؤمنون بأن الحاكم بأمر الله يحكم بأمر الله، لم يسقط في يده، ولم ينتظر أن يصبح الشعب مؤهلاً، بل أقنعهم بأنه ثائر عليه هو أيضاً، بأمر الله. فتلقب بالثائر بأمر الله على الحاكم بأمر الله. فحيد العزة بالعزة. والحاكم أظلم. فتبعه خلق كثير.”
― quote from The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist


“ليس هناك على الأرض أقدس من دم الإنسان، يا بني، ولذلك سمّيت بلادنا بالمقدّسة.”
― quote from The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist


“في المدرسة حذرتموني: احترس بكلامك! فلما أخبرتكم أن معلمي صديقي، همستم: لعله عين عليك! ولما سمعت حكاية الطنطورة فلعنتهم، همستم في أذني: احترس بكلامك!
فلما لعنوني:
احترس بكلامك!
وحين اجتمعت بأقراني، لنعلن إضرابا، قالوا لي، هم أيضا:
احترس بكلامك!
وفي الصباح قلتِ لي، يا أماه: إنك تتكلم في منامك، فاحترس بكلامك في منامك!.. وكنت أدندن في الحمام، فصاح بي أبي: غير هذا اللحن. إن للجدران آذانا، فاحترس بكلامك!
أريد ألا أحترس بكلامي، مرة واحدة!
كنت أختنق!
ضيق هذا الكهف يا أمّاه، لكنه أرحب من حياتكم!
مسدود هذا الكهف يا أماه، ولكنه منفذ!”
― quote from The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist



Popular quotes

“Each type of magic corresponds to a different color glyph—white for air, orange for fire, green for earth, and blue for water.”
― Steve McHugh, quote from Crimes Against Magic


“Lovers and warriors are not bound by the rules of fair play.”
― Wayne Gerard Trotman, quote from Veterans of the Psychic Wars


“Whatever I have up till now accepted as most true and assured I have gotten either from the senses or through the senses. But from time to time I have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once.”
― René Descartes, quote from Meditations on First Philosophy


“Work hard, and if you can't work hard, be smart; and, if you can't be smart, be loud.”
― Budd Schulberg, quote from What Makes Sammy Run?


“Henry wondered, too, what life would have had for her and how her exquisite faculty of challenge could have dealt with a world which would inevitably attempt to confine her. His consolation was that at least he had known her as the world had not, and the pain of living without her was no more than a penalty he paid for the privilege of having been young with her.”
― Colm Tóibín, quote from The Master


Interesting books

The Birth of Tragedy/The Case of Wagner
(2.6K)
The Birth of Tragedy...
by Friedrich Nietzsche
An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
(13.8K)
An Anthropologist on...
by Oliver Sacks
The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society
(334)
The Disuniting of Am...
by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Please Stop Laughing at Me... One Woman's Inspirational Story
(10.8K)
Please Stop Laughing...
by Jodee Blanco
A Complicated Kindness
(16.9K)
A Complicated Kindne...
by Miriam Toews
The Death of Faith
(4.2K)
The Death of Faith
by Donna Leon

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.