Annihilation is, indeed, part of our being, but art is immortal. A sense of the tyranny of annihilation and the ephemeral quality of life always prom… - Fadwa Tuqan

The power of the Arab reactionaries increases day by day, thanks to the flood of wealth in the arid sands...Arab progressivism is still a child, lacking method and organisation. (p187)

Anyone who has experienced disastrous friendships and endured treachery from friends, values a friendship that develops on the basis of trust, honesty and confidence. Reservation, apprehension and wariness do not breed true friendship. (p182)

my reticence and lack of involvement in the political uproar did not mean that I had no sensitivity to it, or did not live under its curse, which hangs constantly over our heads. Like many others, I stood perplexed at the reality around us. With hearts burning from the pain and tragedy we had known, we continued searching, in vain, for a meaning to all that was happening around us. The reality we were living every moment of our lives was one of sheer pain and misery. (p188)