Taha Hussein Quotes

Egypt was one of the earliest among the Islamic states to recover her ancient, unforgotten personality.

culture, cultural formations and intellectuals (…) exist and are made possible by virtue of a very interesting network of relationships with the State’s commanding, almost absolute power”

After mentioning some possible paths, Naguib concludes that the answer will vary according to one’s conception of culture

..it should not be forgotten that independence entails responsibilities and that remissness in discharging them ill suits our honor and traditional claims to leadership.

In an ominous shift, he goes on to ask, “What is needed for Culture to join the bandwagon of Revolution?”

Most of the book is an anthropological exploration of human evolution, culminating in a chapter where the author argues that the development of culture (which he defines as a set of evolving environmental, intellectual, existential, social, and psychological characteristics) must run through state planning

I do not like illusions. I am persuaded that it is only God who can create something from nothing.

The future of this cultural work—its continuity or its decline—hinges on the existence of a (political and cultural) national agreement between state and society on the fact that culture is a strategic necessity that cannot be delayed, partitioned or rely on individual or private initiative. It is, in short, institutional work, a state project worthy of a country with an ancient civilization established on a mindset shaped by the arts. This project represents a building operation for a people’s spirit, a nation’s conscience, an identity’s anchoring, and a revolution’s triumph over the advocates of obscurity and backwardness.

...new Egypt will not come into being except from the ancient, eternal Egypt. I believe further that the new Egypt will have to be built on the great old one, and that the future of culture in Egypt will be an extension, a superior version, of the humble, exhausted, and feeble present.

We do not wish, nor are we able, to break the link between ourselves and our forefathers. To the degree that we establish our future life upon our past and present we shall avoid most of the dangers caused by excesses and miscalculations deriving from illusions and dreams.

If we apply all the energy and intelligence we can muster to the enrichment of Egyptian culture, it will greatly contribute not only to our national growth but also to that of mankind.

Knowledge is like water and air: it is every citizen's right to enjoy it for free.

Saudi Arabia is a country where foreigners have not had the right to build schools and where the people lack the means to educate their children properly.

In Towards a Changing Culture, he argues most clearly that a progressive secular culture should be built through coordination among state institutions, an overall strategy for cultural and economic development, faith in scientific development, freedom of choice, and a modern secular state

cultural producers, intellectuals and politicians are asking foundational questions about the role of government in the field of culture and vice versa”