Naguib Mahfouz

There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see.

I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.

I defend both the freedom of expression and society’s right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.