Reality Has Become So Intolerable, She Said,

Look At Ayatollah Khomeini's Revolution And The Slogans That They Used: Anti-imperialism; Anti-colonialism; The Struggle Of The Have-nots Against The Haves; The State Monopoly Over Economy, Which Was Very Much Patterned After The Soviet Union. All Of These Things Did Not Come Out Of Islam. Islam Is Not That Developed.

The Revolution Taught Me Not To Be Consoled By Other People's Miseries, Not To Feel Thankful Because So Many Others Had Suffered More. Pain And Loss, Like Love And Joy, Are Unique And Personal; They Cannot Be Modified By Comparison To Others.

When I First Left Iran At The Age Of 13, Iran Had Become Such A Shining Star - It Was The Point To Which All My Desires And Dreams Returned.

What We Search For In Fiction Is Not So Much Reality, But The Epiphany Of Truth.

Only Curiosity About The Fate Of Others, The Ability To Put Ourselves In Their Shoes, And The Will To Enter Their World Through The Magic Of Imagination, Creates This Shock Of Recognition. Without This Empathy There Can Be No Genuine Dialogue, And We As Individuals And Nations Will Remain Isolated And Alien, Segregated And Fragmented.