"The absence of freedom is a pain that eventually drives people mad. It reduces a person to a shadow of themselves."

Boualem Sansal See all quotes by Boualem Sansal →

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“The dialogue that carries us from knowledge to awareness, and from awareness to commitment.”

“I write for a certain idea of freedom, truth and human dignity.”

“The vast majority spent their days reading the Quran. The others, like me, did not know what to do, except for a bit of exercise or playing checkers.”

“At 16 or 17, I was at that age when you try to assert your identity in relation to your parents and to your environment.”

“To be free in my mind means you must also be physically free, able to use your own body.”

“To be in prison, alright, but to have a mind free to wander.”

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