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Quote by Daniel Nayeri

“In a refugee camp, it's the waiting that will kill you. The whole point of a refugee camp is that there are actual people trying to kill you. But really, it's the slow numbing death of hopelessness that does it. You have to imagine a room that's just a cement cube--nothing beautiful in it. If you're not careful, this is also what becomes of the parlor of your mind.”

Quote by Daniel Nayeri

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Everything Sad Is Untrue

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Daniel Nayeri

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“For what?" "I don't know," she said, lowering her gaze. "To go with you." "Go with me where?" he gasped. "Anywhere." She turned her eyes up. "Anywhere you go." Tatiana said, "I will go with you." Alexander tried to speak but couldn't; he found himself without words. "But, Tania...I'm going back to the front." She was looking down at the ground. "Are you, Alexander?" she asked quietly without looking up. "Of course. Where else would I be going?" Her eyes stared at him with profound emotion. "You tell me." Blinking and stepping away from her, as if being too close to her left him unprotected, Alexander said, still holding her backpack, "Tania, I'm going back to the front. Colonel Stepanov gave me extra time to come here. I gave him my word I would return." "And that's one thing about you Americans," she said, "you always keep your word." "Yes, that's one thing about us," Alexander said bitterly. "It's no use talking about it. You know I have to go back." Shivering. Tatiana raised her seaweed eyes to him and in a small voice said, "Then I'll go back with you. I'll go back to Leningrad.”

“Rossi pulled the carving tools out. “This was gonna be a surprise. For a while now, I’ve wanted to make you a new cane. And this morning, it was like, well, I have to do it now, so you’ll have time to enjoy it, to wear it out even. ... Part of the development of the piece of art is it being lived on, y’know…before you leave us.” She took a deep breath, looking over her shoulder toward the now shadowy amphitheater. “But then at the moot, with Bianca and…” she trailed off. “The world got bigger,” he said.”

“These selective, occasional murders don't just eliminate difficult opponents; they are also a form of messaging. The Saudi monarchy, the Cuban security services, the Kremlin, and the Chinese police don't have to kill every journalist in order to make all journalists in their countries afraid. Modern dictators have learned that the mass violence of the twentieth century is no longer necessary: targeted violence is often enough to keep ordinary people away from politics altogether, convincing them that it's a contest they can never win.”