Edward Said

The idea of a 'clash of civilizations' is a dangerous and misleading concept.

The West's perception of Islam is often based on ignorance, fear, and prejudice.

The intellectual should be a voice for the voiceless, a champion of the oppressed.

The history of colonialism is a history of violence, exploitation, and dehumanization.

The concept of 'identity' is often used to create divisions, to exclude, to marginalize.

The intellectual's duty is to speak out against injustice, even when it is unpopular or dangerous.

The idea of progress is often used to justify imperialism, to rationalize the domination of one culture over another.

The intellectual must be a person of courage, a person of integrity, a person of conviction.

The struggle for decolonization is a struggle for human dignity, for human freedom, for human rights.

The intellectual's role is to be a gadfly, to sting the conscience of society, to provoke thought and debate.

The concept of 'civilization' is often used as a tool of power, to differentiate between the 'civilized' and the 'uncivilized'.

The intellectual must be an outsider, an exile, a marginal figure.

The problem with the Middle East is not a lack of democracy, but a lack of justice.

The intellectual's greatest weapon is language, the power to articulate, to persuade, to inspire.

I don't remember when exactly I read my first comic book, but I do remember exactly how liberated and subversive I felt as a result.

It is quite common to hear high officials in Washington and elsewhere speak of changing the map of the Middle East, as if ancient societies and myriad peoples can be shaken up like so many peanuts in a jar.

Much as I have no wish to hurt anyone's feelings, my first obligation has not been to be nice but to be true to my perhaps peculiar memories, experiences and feelings.

To play music well, you need to strike a balance between your head, your heart, and your stomach. And if one of the three is not there or is there in too strong a dose, you cannot use it. What better way than music to show a child how to be human?

The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences.

Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control but to educate and liberate.