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Emile Habiby Biography

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“My first ancestor, Abjar son of Abjar, mounted on his horse outside the city walls, had stared back at the tongues and shouted, "After me, the deluge!”

Optimism Pessismism

Author:Emile Habiby

“I don't differentiate between optimism and pessimism and am at quite a loss as to which of the two characterises me. When I awake each morning I thank the lord he did not take my soul during the night. If harm befalls me during the night, I thank him that it was no worse. So which am I, a pessimist or an optimist?”

Optimism Pessimism

Author:Emile Habiby

“Candide was an optimist, but you're a pessoptimist." "That fact," I repsonded, "Is a virtue that, above all others, distinguishes my people." "But you," he criticized again, "seem to be imitating Candide." "Don't blame me for that. Blame our way of life that hasn't changed since Voltaire's day, except that El Dorado has now come to exist on this planet.”

Change Human Nature Optimism Candide

Author:Emile Habiby

“Jacob, my old friend came first. he was sad. I shouted down to him, "The stake, old friend of a lifetime, do something!" "But we all sit on one", was his reply. "I don't see you on one," I objected. "And we see nobody else's either. Each of us is alone, on his own stake. This is the stake we share.”

Suffering Inaction Commonality

Author:Emile Habiby

“How long must we wait for the lilies to bud?”

Author:Emile Habiby

“How I yeran for those days! For now not only the village of Tanturah but also its girl are gone. And the people of Jisr al-Zarqa have changed as well. They put their clothes back on, left the sea, and joined their neighbours who work the land, the people of Fraydis. Now none of them go down to the river or stand where it joins the sea, except for children playing truant and old men trying to escape the burdens of their age. And had it not been for the Nature Conservation Committee and the laudable campaign it conducted which succeeded in preventing the authorities from building an electric power station at the mouth of the river, my name, Saeed, would not remain carved on that limestone rock where Tanturiyya used to rest while we wove our glances the fabric of our future.”

Loss Future Nostalgia

Author:Emile Habiby

“But Saeed, Saeed, the children are our only hope!”

Children Hope Future

Author:Emile Habiby

“Yes, ever since that time I began looking upward and awaiting their arrival. Either they will transform my monotonous and boring life completely, or they can take me away with them. Is there an alternative?”

Choices Passive

Author:Emile Habiby

“True power is expressed in quiet confidence; it was the sea's very calmness that epitomised its mighty force.”

Power Confidence Dichotomy

Author:Emile Habiby

“The seas are wide and flow together. They have no borders and have room enough for all fish.”

Satirical Fiction Palestine Israel Relations

Book:الوقائع الغريبة في اختفاء سعيد أبي النحس المتشائل

Source: الوقائع الغريبة في اختفاء سعيد أبي النحس المتشائل