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Quote by Simin Behbahani

“Democracy is the product of human thought and reasoning. It's true that philosophers and thinkers have always imagined a utopia in which everything is as it ought to be and the people live in freedom and comfort. But this was not achieved until recent centuries.”

Quote by Simin Behbahani

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Simin Behbahani
Simin Behbahani

Simin Behbahani (July 20, 1927 - August 19, 2014) was a renowned Iranian poet, translator, and human rights activist. Born in Tehran into an intellectual family, she began writing poetry at a young age and became famous for her innovative use of the traditional Persian ghazal form. She skillfully combined this classical poetic form with modern themes, addressing contemporary issues such as women's rights, social justice, and political freedom. Throughout her career, she published numerous poetry collections and received several literary awards. Beyond poetry, she contributed to Persian literature by translating English works into Persian. Behbahani was celebrated as one of the most influential voices in contemporary Persian literature, with her works translated into multiple languages. She passed away in Tehran on August 19, 2014, at the age of 87. more

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“Politics becomes a part of a writer's working life. The writer's protagonists are born in the context of the feelings that this atmosphere evokes. How can writers separate themselves from these feelings and create protagonists that come from Mars? Even writers who only write about psychological or internal issues or about love are writing under their prevailing atmosphere, and their writings will take on the hue of the time, place, and mood of their environment.”

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“The more stringent the rules and the more limiting they are, the more the poet and writer is forced to resort to special techniques and intricacies to escape them. And these techniques and intricacies adorn the writing and make it more beautiful. But, in the modern world, linguistic intricacies and embellishments do not attract much attention anymore, and the more sincere and intimate the relationship between a work and its reader, the better.”

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“I've stood in long lines, in the rain and under the sun, just to buy a pack of butter or a box of paper napkins. I've seen mothers running after the corpses of their martyred sons, oblivious to whether their headscarves or their chadors or their stockings and shoes were slipping off or not. I won't say any more. In the light of all this, how did you expect my poetry to be joyful or, as in my recent poem, to speak of love? Even so, more than half of my poetry is joyful and these are the products of the moments when I've felt happy.”

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