Firoozeh Dumas Quotes & Sayings

Throughout his job ordeal, my father never complained. He remained an Iranian who loved his native country but who also believed in American ideals. He only said how sad it was that people so easily hate an entire population simply because of the actions of a few. And what a waste it is to hate, he always said. What a waste. — Firoozeh Dumas

Any gift from a true friend is valuable, even if it's a hollow walnut shell. — Firoozeh Dumas

Ever since we had arrived in the United States, my classmates kept asking me about magic carpets.
- They don't exist-I always said. I was wrong. Magic carpets do exist. But they are called library cards. — Firoozeh Dumas

A fruit basket would have been nice, but instead we found that a flyer had been slipped under the door. Dear Brainwashed Cowards, You are nothing but puppets of the corrupt Shah. We will teach you a lesson you will never forget. Death to the Shah. Death to you. My father crumpled the flyer and threw it away. "Let's find out where they're having the dinner buffet," he said. — Firoozeh Dumas

Most fruits, if left alone on a tree, eventually do ripen, especially if they're not being yelled at. — Firoozeh Dumas

The Japanese have a saying that for every new food we try, we gain seven days of life. I may be immortal by now. — Firoozeh Dumas

During our stay in Newport Beach, the Iranian Revolution took place and a group of Americans were taken hostage in the American embassy in Tehran. Overnight, Iranians living in America became, to say the least, very unpopular. For some reason, many Americans began to think that all Iranians, despite outward appearances to the contrary, could at any given moment get angry and take prisoners. — Firoozeh Dumas

In America, Christmas is the king of all holidays. To be left out of Christmas is the ultimate minority experience. — Firoozeh Dumas

The bible is foreign to me, but its concepts are not. My father always said that hatred is a waste and never an option. He learned this growing up in Ahwaz, Iran, in a Muslim household. I have tried my best to pass the same message to my children, born and raised in the United States. Ultimately, it doesn't matter where we learn that lesson. It's just important that we do. — Firoozeh Dumas

I always made sure to put them back in the exact order in which I had found them, for fear of losing the privilege of browsing in my uncle's library. — Firoozeh Dumas

Without my relatives, I am but a thread; together, we form a colorful and elaborate Persian carpet. — Firoozeh Dumas

The Limoges set has brought us more joy in its absence than it ever did in our cupboards. Of course, we no longer own a set of china to pass down to our kids, but that's okay. Francois and I plan on giving our children something more valuable, the simple truth that the best way to go through life is to be a major donor of kindness. We'll tell them that it's possible to own a whole bunch of beautiful, valuable things and still be miserable. But sometimes just having a recipe for chocolate Bunt cake can make a person far, far happier. — Firoozeh Dumas

To deny someone an education is not just a crime but a sin, because you are denying that person the opportunity to realize who he or she is meant to be. — Firoozeh Dumas

My parents are highly evolved worriers ... If worrying were an Olympic sport, my parents' faces would have graced the Wheaties box a long time ago. — Firoozeh Dumas

I was a VIP, a Very Iranian Person, and things just take longer for us. — Firoozeh Dumas

My father's motto has always been 'Room in the heart, room in the house.' As charming as this sounds, it translates into a long line for the bathroom and extra loads of laundry for my mother. — Firoozeh Dumas

Perhaps the people we think we know best are the ones who surprise us most. — Firoozeh Dumas

My parents do not limit themselves to worrying about things that have actually happened. Dreams are also fair game. I often get phone calls with detailed descriptions of a dream, followed by So naturally, I had to call to make sure you were okay and there wasn't a reason why I dreamed of you trapped in a canoe with a blue turtle. — Firoozeh Dumas

Shushtari proverb "Any gift from a true friend is valuable, even if it's a hollow walnut shell." It's fair to say that the Shushtari floating in my house — Firoozeh Dumas

Swimsuit competitions go against everything that is right and decent in this world. We're told that beauty is on the inside and that who we are matters far more than what we look like. But could you please just put on this bikini and walk around on high heels so I can judge your inner beauty? — Firoozeh Dumas

Elinor Lipman is to tweets what Shakespeare is to sonnets. — Firoozeh Dumas

They have never heard of Lindsay Lohan. They are blessed. — Firoozeh Dumas

Everyone except gamblers knows that gambling never pays ... Losing, like winning, only increased his determination to play. — Firoozeh Dumas

We had always known that ours is a small country and that America is very big. But even as a seven-year-old, I was surprised that so many Americans has never noticed us on the map. Perhaps it's like driving a Yugo and realizing that the eighteen-wheeler can's see you. — Firoozeh Dumas

Here, those kids are called nerds and geeks and dorks. This may be the only country where people make fun of the smart kids. Now that's stupid. I only hope that the engineer who built the bridge I drive across or the nurse who administers our vaccines or the teacher who teaches my kids was a total nerd. — Firoozeh Dumas

It's not what we eat or don't eat that makes us good people; it's how we treat one another. As you grow older, you'll find that people of every religion think they're the best, but that's not true. There are good and bad people in every religion. Just because someone is Muslim, Jewish, or Christian doesn't mean a thing. You have to look and see what's in their hearts. That's the only thing that matters, and that's the only detail God cares about. — Firoozeh Dumas

Older boys often asked me to teach them "some bad words in your language". At first I politely refused. My refusal merely increased their determination, so I solved the problem by teaching them phrases like 'man kharam' which means "I'm an idiot". I told them that what I was teaching them was so nasty that they would have to promise never to repeat it to anyone. They would then spend all of recess running around yelling "I'm an idiot! I'm an idiot!". I never told them the truth. I figured someday, somebody would — Firoozeh Dumas

The more modest and impractical the kitchen, the more likely one will be invited to stay for a meal. Show me a fancy house with a top-of-the-line gourmet kitchen, and I'll show you a family that eats out a lot. — Firoozeh Dumas

Marriage, in my culture, has nothing to do with romance. It's a matter of logic. If Mr. and Mrs. Ahmadi like Mr. and Mrs. Nejari, then their children should get married. On the other hand, if the parents don't like each other, but the children do, well, this is where sad poetry comes from. — Firoozeh Dumas

Despite a few exceptions, I have found that Americans are now far more willing to learn new names, just as they're far more willing to try new ethnic foods ... It's like adding a few new spices to the kitchen pantry. — Firoozeh Dumas

Repose not trust in testing another's degree of honesty at the risk of one's loss in matters big, unless collateralized. — Firoozeh Dumas

During his next visit, my father secretly decided that our bathroom needed towel hooks. Using nails that were too long, my father pierced the door, creating towel hooks on one side, medieval blinding devices on the other ... No matter how inconvenient a household malfunction might be, Kazem can always make it worse, for free. — Firoozeh Dumas

Most immigrants agree that at some point, we become permanent foreigners, belonging neither here nor there. Many tomes have been written trying to describe this feeling of floating between worlds but never fully landing. Artists, using every known medium from words to film to Popsicle sticks, have attempted to encapsulate the struggle of trying to hang on to the solid ground of our mother culture and realizing that we are merely in a pond balancing on a lily pad with a big kid about to belly-flop right in. If and when we fall into this pond, will we be singularly American or will we hyphenate? Can we hold on to anything or does our past just end up at the bottom of the pond, waiting to be discovered by future generations? — Firoozeh Dumas