Marjane Satrapi

Men's pride is situated in their scrotums.

I've never seen or touched anything.""Can you explain then how you had children?""You're right. It's true I have four kids. Four! But still I have never seen the male organ. He came into the bedroom, he turned off the light, and then Bam! Bam! Bam! and voila I was pregnant! What's more, I was granted four girls. So I have never seen penises.

To be the mistress of a married man is to have the better role. Do you realize? His dirty shirt, his disgusting underwear, his daily ironing, his bad breath, his hemorrhoid attacks, his fuss, not to mention his bad moods, and his tantrums. Well all that is for his wife. When a married man comes to his mistress... he's always bleached and ironed, his teeth sparkle, his breath is like perfume, he's in a good mood, he's full of conversation, he is there to have a good time with you.

Love is the opposite of good sense.

I asked him what his work was. He answered that he devoted all his time to his political activities... He was undoubtedly busy with the diplomatic relations between his testicles and women's breast.

Would you like to become my wife?""Imbecile! What a question. It's my greatest dream!!!

I rushed to the living room to protect myself from I don't know what, behind my best friend, a book.

I had learned that you should always shout louder than your aggressor.

Ouch! What are you doing, Karl, you broke my skull!

The regime had understood that one person leaving her house while asking herself: Are my trousers long enough?Is my veil in place?Can my make-up be seen?Are they going to whip me?No longer asks herself: Where is my freedom of thought?Where is my freedom of speech?My life, is it liveable?What's going on in the political prisons?

In life you'll meet a lot of jerks. If they hurt you, tell yourself that it's because they're stupid. That will help keep you from reacting to their cruelty. Because there is nothing worse than bitterness and vengeance... Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself.

They found records and video-cassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that's banned.

When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.

I want to be justice, love and the wrath of God all in one.

Anything that has a relationship with pleasure, we reject it. Eating, they talk about cholesterol; making love, they talk about AIDS; you talk about smoking, they talk about cancer. It's a very sick society that rejects pleasure.

I like to be sad once in a while. You need it for your equilibrium.

Cinema is a world of imagination.

It's not like since I make comics I only read comics and since I make movies I will only go out and watch movies. Any kind of artistic expression interests me; it goes from literature to music to sculpture, painting; whatever is extremely inspiring for me becomes a reference also for me.