I'm fascinated by evil queens. They're very alluring and repellent at the same time, and I'm into that dichotomy.

The first question [American college kids] asked me was, 'What state is Kuwait in?' They thought Kuwait was in America.

If you've ever seen album covers for Arab female pop stars, it looks like the designer was paid five dollars to make them, and the extreme femaleness is astounding.

The vast majority of women musicians function under singular names like 'Cher' 'Madonna'. They have to get married almost immediately to preserve their honour.

There are very few pop people I'm interested in working with.

I feel like there is an emphasis against teaching geography in American schools. Americans don't say, "I'm going to Germany." They say, "I'm going to Europe."

I was one of five out of 100 people who passed the test, which just proved to me how little Americans are taught geography.

I've never been to China. I only know what the West is telling me about China.

I had a story-telling mother; she's written novels and short stories. So I feel like maybe I'm staying alive by telling tales.

My music doesn't exist in a vacuum; there's a script and there's an actor and it's about to come together.

I still think you people need to be curious [in order to absorb the culture]. You need to search Uzbekistani pop music.

I hope I died honorably. I have a great deal to atone for. - Eler Nersal

Never, do you hear me? I will give up my friends, my country, my duty, and even my honor—but never you.

The industrial age was not about craftspeople trading peer to peer. It was about stopping that. You weren't supposed to be a craftsperson, you were supposed to be an employee.

It's very easy to become selfish and narrow-minded and see ballet as the only thing in life, but there's lots more.

Doing what you love means dealing with things you don't.

Eve tasted the apple in the Garden of Eden in order to slake that intense thirst for knowledge that the simple pleasure of picking flowers and talking to Adam could not satisfy.

How can something as fragile as a word build the whole world?

A man should think less of what he eats and more with whom he eats because no food is so satisfying as good company.

I am an atheist. I do not believe in prayers, I believe in work. And my work is that of an author. My pen is my weapon.

It's a give and take relationship with my fans. They give me love and adoration, and I take it from them.