Paradise Quotes

“Respect yourself and others will come to respect you. That is true about all of us, but especially true about women. That is the meaning of honour.”
― Abdulrazak Gurnah, Paradise

“They offered me freedom as a gift. She did. Who told her she had it to offer? I know the freedom you are talking about. I had that freedom the moment I was born. When these people say you belong to me, I own you, it is like the passing of the rain, or the setting of the sun at the end of the day.”
― Abdulrazak Gurnah, Paradise

“I'm afraid, you're right...though not only of them. We'll lose everything, including the way we live,' Hussein said. 'And these young people will lose even more. One day they'll make them spit on all that we know, and will make them recite their laws and their story of the world as if it were the holy word. When they come to write about us, what will they say? That we made slaves.”
― Abdulrazak Gurnah, Paradise

“The Germans were afraid of nothing.”
― Abdulrazak Gurnah, Paradise

“Me ofrecieron la libertad como un regalo. Ella. ¿Quién le dijo que era su dueña para dármela? Sé de qué libertad estás hablando. Yo tuve esa libertad en el momento de nacer. Cuando esa gente dice me perteneces, yo soy tu dueño, es como el paso de la lluvia o la puesta del sol. Al día siguiente, el sol saldrá de nuevo les guste o no. Lo mismo pasa con la libertad. Pueden encerrarte, ponerte cadenas, denigrar todos tus pequeños anhelos, pero la libertad no es algo que puedan arrebatarte. Cuando han terminado contigo, todavía están tan lejos de poseerte como lo estaban el día en que naciste. ¿Me comprendes? Éste es el trabajo que me ha sido encomendado, ¿qué puede ofrecerme esa de ahí que sea más libre que esto?”
― Abdulrazak Gurnah, Paradise

“They offered me freedom as a gift. She did. Who told her she had it to offer? I know the freedom you are talking about. I had that freedom the moment I was born. When these people say you belong to me, I own you, it is like the passing of the rain, or the setting of the sun at the end of the day. The following morning the sun will rise again whether they like it or not. The same with freedom. They can lock you up, put you in chains, abuse all your small longings, but freedom is not something they can take away. When they have finished with you, they are still as far away from owning you as they were on the day you were born. Do you understand me? This is the work I have been given to do, what can that one in there offer me that is freer than that?”
― Abdulrazak Gurnah, Paradise