Persepolis Quotes

“You must base everything on these three rules: behave well, speak well, act well.”
― Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

“The Germans sell chemical weapons to Iran and Iraq. The wounded are then sent to Germany to be treated. Veritable human guinea pigs.”
― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis

“Some people have described Ava as religiously non-observant, but I think she's starved for love. She must have been deprived in her youth. That's why she acts out. Deep down, she didn't have a good opinion of herself. Not that she's perfect. I just think she could use a hug.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“Chouka era muy divertida. Por desgracia, cuando dos años más tarde se casó, su esposo le prohibió verme. Para él, yo era una persona amoral”
― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis

“Although my words were temperate and well-expressed, they seemed to repulse Ava. My timing has never been precise. Ava regarded me the way a widow spider examines a housefly. She laughed loudly, a vulgar Occidental laugh, the laugh of a person who wraps their next meal in silk before draining their lifeblood. But, I have been known to imagine things.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“A boorish laborer of some type emerged from a crowd of timid Coke-drinking men. He moved toward us with the wide menacing stance of a wrestler, black glistening hair, jutting like straight shards from beneath a Pashtun cap. Strong as an acre of garlic. He stared at me with an undignified glimmer in his eye that I wished wasn't there.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“I'm insane. I'll admit that. I have that awful condition: cleithrophobia. Father knew all of this, of course, but nowadays he never asks direct questions. I was determined to show him the world outside should be invited in--celebrated. I had every intention of doing the same thing tomorrow, and all nights thereafter, until he conceded, or, I made my escape to gay Paree.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“Step outside on the terrace if you can't sleep in the heat. Don't be surprised if you find me there. The summer stars are spectacular. Just make sure you sleep near the half wall. Stay out of the sight line of the north tower. It would be scandalous if Uncle Solomon watched you sleep. You know, Islamic propriety and all. And by the way, you sleep about as quiet as an egg beater.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“Sarah has read books on manners and good conduct, written in the language of the Arabs. I know she turned those pages. Watch her: perfect posture, grace in every step, perfect clothes. Not very fashionable, but clean and beautifully pressed.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“I'm sure love has its own means of survival, its preferred host, its ideal temperature, its own law of thermodynamics. Why else would women crave hot baths?”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“Iran. Hot for certainties, but all us women get are rhymes. Always a metaphor; always a clever turn of phrase; always quoting poets without giving a direct answer. Give us definitive wedding dates. That's certainty! Those are the certainties we ache for--as certain as the sunlight that our sun-loving botany aches for.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“De todas formas, mientras haya petróleo en oriente medio, no conoceremos la paz.”
― Marjane Satrapi

“And again there was the long road, as straight as an arrow through the shimmering wall of fog, and the sudden apparition of the solitary columns of Persepolis on the terrace that seemed surreally suspended high above the plains”
― Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Morte na Pérsia

“The Tehran Derby pits Esteghlal against Persepolis, the blue versus the red.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“But revenge and honor are as old as the pillars in Persepolis. The father, the brother or some man from her family will come looking for him.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish