Art is our weapon. Culture is a form of resistance.

I find that through the study of women, you get to the heart - the truth - of the culture.

Every Iranian artist, in one form or another, is political. Politics have defined our lives.

In this Western world that we have, culture risks being [only] a form of entertainment.

Being political is an integral part of being Iranian. Our lives are defined by politics.

Art is no crime. It's every artist's responsibility to make art that is meaningful

Poets use metaphors and symbolism to construct images. I construct my images in the same way, except that I am using a different form.

Beautiful woman wrapped in chadors, with huge machine guns in their hands. Brilliant, shocking, amazingly contradictory images. They compelled me to deeply investigate these ideas.

To me, editing is not something you can do in a rush because the artists themselves are not always their own best editors. Time is absolutely everything.

Nature has the most powerfully healing effect.

My mother is my last point of security in relation to my past, and if that breaks, I will not ever have that type of pure love or pure attachment.

Creativity muscle needs to be strengthened, and creativity excellence needs to be cultivated.

the oncoming night was filled with the mystery of unknown places and of distance, of things that happened long ago and happenings yet to com

You can't get attention of one who focused on himself.

Dust into dust and under dust to lie Sans wine sans song sans singer and - sans end.

A flu shot is the worst thing you can do.

It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.

Generativity is a system's capacity to produce unanticipated change through unfiltered contributions from broad and varied audiences.

I am tough minded, but not hard hearted.

I don't want to smoke cigars or go to stag parties, wear jockey shorts or pick up the check.

I was reading some complex books in my own youth-and no, I didnt always understand every word, let alone every concept-but I got the main thrust, which was like a lifeline in a fluctuating world.