A biography for Tahar Ben Jellounhasn’t been written yet.
“The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women.”
“Be vigilant, for nothing one achieves lasts forever.”
“I belong to a specific category of writers, those who speak and write in a language different from that of their parents.”
“I have written about the dispossessed, immigrants, the condition of women who do not enjoy the same legal rights as men, the Palestinians who are deprived of their land and condemned to exile.”
“It is impossible to disregard such an important medium as television. We should know how to use it, learn to work in it and express new values in it.”
“An individual voice can be heard in a choir that otherwise sings in unison. This is something that is not excused.”
“We do not have many intellectuals who can speak out for us internationally. We have no writers who are recognized, respected and loved outside the Arab world.”
“I liked Sartre's views but not his writing.”
“I write about wounds, the eternal treasons of life. It's not very funny, but it's sincere. My commitment is to sincerity.”
“At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets.”
“My sensibility steers me toward writers who are out on their own.”
“We have no Arab intellectuals of international stature because we live in a state of generalized mediocrity. We are suspended in the pit without touching the bottom.”
“We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world.”
“There are very few great poets in the world.”
“I am a Moroccan writer of French expression.”
“In Morocco, it's possible to see the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time.”
“It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.”
“In the '70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away.”
“New ideas should confront old ideas. We must refer to the example of Europe. People have fought to make Europe what it is today. Freedom is not something that is served up on a plate.”
“I love life in spite of all that mars it. I love friendship, jokes and laughter.”