Nawal El-Saadawi

I discovered that all these rulers were men. What they had in common was an avaricious and distorted personality, a never-ending appetite for money, sex and unlimited power. They were men who sowed corruption on the earth, and plundered their peoples, men endowed with loud voices, a capacity for persuasion, for choosing sweet words and shooting poisoned arrows. Thus, the truth about them was revealed only after their death, and as a result I discovered that history tended to repeat itself with a foolish obstinacy.

How is it possible to live? Life is so hard?___ou must be harder than life, Firdaus. Life is very hard. The only people who really live are those who are harder than life itself.___ut you are not hard, Sharifa, so how do you manage to live?___ am hard, terribly hard, Firdaus.___o, you are gentle and soft.___y skin is soft, but my heart is cruel, and my bite deadly.___ike a snake?___es, exactly like a snake. Life is a snake. They are the same, Firdaus. If the snake realises you are not a snake, it will bite you. And if life knows you have no sting, it will devour you.

How is it possible to live? Life is so hard?___ou must be harder than life, Firdaus. Life is very hard. The only people who really live are those who are harder than life itself.___ut you are not hard, Sharifa, so how do you manage to live?___ am hard, terribly hard, Firdaus.___o, you are gentle and soft.___y skin is soft, but my heart is cruel, and my bite deadly.___ike snake?___es, exactly like a snake. Life is a snake. They are the same, Firdaus. If the snake realises you are not a snake, it will bite you. And if life knows you have no sting, it will devour you.

Who said to kill does not require gentleness?

I have triumphed over both life and death because I no longer desire to live, nor do I any longer fear to die.