Quotes by Jordanian Authors

What about Danny Thomas?" Uncle Hal asks. "What happened to him?"Dead," Uncle Abdelhafiz says. "Nice Lebanese boy.""Never mind about Danny Thomas, look what happened to your whole family! Look at your cousin Farouq, Great Uncle Ziad, Auntie Seena and Jimmy's son Jalal," Aunt Jean cuts in disapprovingly."Dead, dead, dead, and in jail.
Diana Abu-Jaber
The flower is here, so let's dance here.
Amjad Nasser
Changing? Aren’t we a little delusional? You’ve always been scarred and you always will be. Well you’re not really the best thinker. Why waste time trying to mend what’s broken? It’s impossible as trying to keep it from being broken in the first place. You want kids, don’t you? Abused people turn abusive, it’s a fact. Why? Becayse you love them? Didn’t I love you? But I’ve hurt you still. Love has nothing to do with being abusive. You’ve always been bruised and cut and it’s just… pointless to try and change that… now.
dee Juusan
I lived in my head most of the time— a lonely and messed up place —and suddenly there was a higher force called Allah I could lean on. A companion, who'd travel with me this road less trodden... My life. Islam means surrendering yourself to God.
Fadia Faqir
We are stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share.
Rania Al-Abdullah
Never make a decision while in the state of anger.
Abdullah II of Jordan
Dad says that everyone invented baklava.” It occurs to me now to wonder what that means. Aunt Aya rolls her eyes.“Your father? He is the worst of the worst. He thinks he cooks and eats Arabic food but these walnuts were not grown from Jordanian earth and this butter was not made from Jordanian lambs. He is eating the shadow of a memory. He cooks to remember but the more he eats, the more he forgets.
Diana Abu-Jaber
Nobody ever stays the same after someone they know tries to kill themselves…
dee Juusan
Being popular comes when you have everything. But to be liked, it means that you must be treating people with respect and you must be showing kindness toward them.
Rania Al-Abdullah
Who am I?" she snaps. "I am America, Israel, England! What am I doing?" She waits another long moment, her eyes shining. "I'm shutting up and listening." She draws the last word out so it hisses through the air. "I am the presidents, the kings, the prime ministers, the highs and the mighties—L-I-S-T-E-N!" She spells the word in the air. "The woman who made the baklava has something to say to you! Voilà! You see? Now what am I doing?" She picks up an imaginary plate, lifts something from it, and takes an invisible bite. Then she closes her eyes and says, "Mmm... That is such delicious Arabic-Jordanian-Lebanese-Palestinian baklawa. Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Please will you come to our home now and have some of our food?" She puts down the plate and brushes imaginary crumbs from her fingers. "So now what did I just do? "You ate some baklawa?" She curls her hand as if making a point so essential, it can be held only in the tips of the fingers. "I looked, I tasted, I spoke kindly and truthfully. I invited. You know what else? I keep doing it. I don't stop if it doesn't work on the first or the second or the third try. And like that!" She snaps the apron from the chair into the air, leaving a poof of flour like a wish. "There is your peace.
Diana Abu-Jaber
Education reform doesn't come cheap. But the price of ignorance is far, far greater
Rania Al-Abdullah
If you believe that the killing of innocent people is right, then you are not part of my future.
King Abdullah II
The future lies in unity and respect, not division and stereotypes
Abdullah II of Jordan
Slavery has been outlawed in most arab countries for years now but there are villages in jordan made up entirely of descendants of runaway Saudi slaves. Abdulrahman knows he might be free, but hes still an arab. No one ever wants to be the arab - its too old and too tragic, too mysterious and too exasperating, and too lonely for anyone but an actual arab to put up with for very long. Essentially, its an image problem. Ask anyone, Persian, Turks, even Lebanese and Egyptians - none of them want to be the arab. They say things like, well, really we're indo-russian-asian european- chaldeans, so in the end the only one who gets to be the arab is the same little old bedouin with his goats and his sheep and his poetry about his goats and his sheep, because he doesnt know that he's the arab, and what he doesnt know wont hurt him.
Diana Abu-Jaber
Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground
Diana Abu-Jaber
Marry, don't marry,' Auntie Aya says as we unfold layers of dough to make an apple str
Diana Abu-Jaber
I believe you can only be lucky if you start out beingvery good
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
But there was no time to rest on my laurels.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
He walked out without his money.The lesson to me was clear: hold onto your integrity at all costs. Never compromise on that.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
There wasn’t a question of what compromise there should be or what kind of peace process we should engage in. There was only one discussion: How do we remove the colonial power that is occupying ourcountry?
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
I always have believed that we should not call it an Arab-Israeli issue or a Palestinian-Arab dispute or a peace negotiation. I think we should call it what it is: an occupation of Palestine, full stop. This is not a popular position in mixed company.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh