There are common denominators that unite all members of al-Nahda: There is no one in al-Nahda who doubts about Islam There is no one in al-Nahda that believes in extremist views of Islam.

I dream of a free, democratic, peaceful Tunisia, a country that can protect its developing identity.

We in Tunisia have no problem with respecting other peoples religion, and we have a long tradition of that.

What Tunisia urgently needs, is freedom and the building of a real democracy.

I believe that women should have equal rights to education, to work and to civic and political engagement.

French laicite is probably aggressive and antagonistic to the religion, but there are other models of secularism in the world where there could be reconciliation between religion and secularism.

Under Tunisian law, a woman can divorce her husband. Total equality.

Just like in medicine, when the normal medicine no longer works, one resorts to surgery. And the revolutions is like the surgery: Its painful, and its the last resort for nations.

I believe democracy will succeed in Tunisia, but I also believe that it will succeed in the other Arab Spring countries.

The dictatorship needs to be entirely dismantled. All the rest of the old guard must go.

There is no one in al-Nahda that is violence is a means of change or to keep power. Everyone in al-Nahda believes that democracy is the only way to reach power and to stay in power.

Having a system for thinking deeper can provide greater insight into solving everyday problem. Such a system is shared in my book, Medical Investigation 101.

The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral port

To all librarians everywhere, God bless you.

In all my science fiction movies, I try to blend the familiar with the futuristic so as not to be too off putting to the audience. There is always something familiar they can grab onto.

Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.

You shall abstain, shall abstain. That is the eternal song.

Gentle and giving-all the rest is treason.

Less disappointing than life, great works of art do not begin by giving us all their best.

Let God have you, and let God love you - and don’t be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you’ve never heard and your feet learn to dance as never before.

I know we're meant to be these hard-headed, money-obsessed professionals but we're still little boys at heart. Just ask our wives.