Marjane Satrapi

“Culture and education are the lethal weapons against all kinds of fundamentalism.”

“In life you'll meet a lot of jerks. If they hurt you, tell yourself that it's because they're stupid. That will help keep you from reacting to their cruelty. Because there is nothing worse than bitterness and vengeance... Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself.”

“The first real dictator is when you're 5 years old and your parents tell you that you can't do something. If you say you want to be a painter, and they say you should be a doctor, that's the first oppression. For me, the first oppression was my family.”

“One can forgive but one should never forget.”

“I believe that the entire world is one big family, and we're all Trojans. And we all have to get along.”

“Humor is a force. It's a survival force. And if you have a sense of humor, it's a way of taking a distance from your own tragedy.”

“The only thing that can kill me is death, and I am not afraid of it.”

“Fear has always been the engine of prejudice.”

“You know, they say that the people who have the heaviest souls have the loudest laughs.”

“I don't think that the borders of countries are the borders of your understanding.”

“Life is too short to be lived badly.”

“When you are a child, you are very honest and you are very direct and you don't bargain. You say what you think.”

“Freedom has a price. Most of the time, you have to suffer.”

“The world is not a shitty place. It’s your vision of it that is shitty.”

“If I have one message to give to the secular American people, it's that the world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk.”

“The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.”

“When a big wave comes, lower your head and let it pass.”