Best of Azar Nafisi, Author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and Republic of Imagination

I wish she were my life coach! She makes me want to double down on everything I believe in and speak up about.

• "Hope is always defiant" 
• "We are taught that reality is static, but reality is fragile."
• "You have to keep your dignity by becoming more yourself."
• "Oppression, violence to anyone decreases my dignity. We are all implicated."
• "Like Dorothy, we go to other worlds to come back with fresh eyes."
• "American literature is about underdogs who refuse to be underdogs."
• "We watch the republican debates so we can laugh. This is no laughing matter."
• On Activism - "You complain because you care so much about the place."
• "Governments come and go, only the trace of genius remains." 
• "The Mall is the jewel on the crown of this country."
• "We are withdrawing within ourselves because we feel helpless. Instead, we should come out!"
• "If people knew about Syria, how would they vote?"
• "The great writers write about 'us.' They tell human stories."