Mahfouz Nobel Quotes & Sayings

Winning Nobel imposed on me a lifestyle to which I am not used and which I would not have preferred. — Naguib Mahfouz

My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize. — Naguib Mahfouz

Modern Arabic literature achieved international recognition when Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel prize in 1988 ( ... ) Mahfouz also rendered Arabic literature a great service by developing, over the years, a form of language in which many of the archaisms and cliches that had become fashionable were discarded, a language that could serve as an adequate instrument for the writing of fiction in these times. — Denys Johnson-Davies

I write the words God put on my mind. — Lailah Gifty Akita

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages. — Naguib Mahfouz

No blasphemy harms Islam and Muslims so much as the call for murdering a writer — Naguib Mahfouz

I wasn't driven. I just really loved what I did. — Jo Stafford

These people had already seen what for everyone else is still unknown. I felt like I was recording the future. Svetlana — Svetlana Alexievich

My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize. — Naguib Mahfouz

I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised. — Naguib Mahfouz

In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning. — A.E. Housman

The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level. — Naguib Mahfouz

We all appreciated a certain aesthetic, and with that appreciation came a certain stylized presence. — Amber Heard

I am practically in the employ of Mr. Nobel. I have to meet everyone he sends my way. — Naguib Mahfouz

The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition. — Naguib Mahfouz