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Amin Maalouf

Amin Maalouf Quotes

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Famous Amin Maalouf Quotes

“« Plus personne ne pouvait dire "Allahou akbar" sur le sol de l’Andalousie, cette terre où, pendant huit siècles, la voix du muezzin avait appelé les fidèles à la prière. Plus personne ne pouvait réciter la Fatiha sur la dépouille de son père. Du moins en public, car ces musulmans convertis par la force refusaient de renier leur foi. »”

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Book:Leo The African
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“People often see themselves in terms of whichever one of their allegiances is most under attack. And sometimes, when a person doesn't have the strength to defend that allegiance, he hides it. Then it remains buried deep down in the dark, awaiting its revenge. But whether he accepts or conceals it, proclaims it discreetly or flaunts it, it is with that allegiance that the person concerned identifies. And then, whether it relates to colour, religion, language or class, it invades the person's whole identity. Other people who share the same allegiance sympathise; they all gather together, join forces, encourage one another, challenge "the other side," For them, "asserting their identity" inevitably becomes an act of liberation.”

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Book:الهويات القاتلة
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“What makes me myself rather than anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages, and several cultural traditions. It is precisely this that defines my identity. Would I exist more authentically if I cut off a part of myself”

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Book:In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong
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“Taking the line of least resistance, we lump the most different people together under the same heading. Taking the line of least resistance, we ascribe to them collective crimes, collective acts and opinions. "The Serbs have massacred…", "The English have devastated…", "The Jews have confiscated…", "The Blacks have torched", "The Arabs refuse…". We blithely express sweeping judgments on whole peoples, calling them "hardworking" and "ingenious", or "lazy", "touchy", "sly", "proud", or "obstinate". And sometimes this ends in bloodshed." – Amin Maalouf "On Identity”

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Author:Amin Maalouf
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