When I First Left Iran At The

Empathy Lies At The Heart Of Gatsby, Like So Many Other Great Novels-the Biggest Sin Is To Be Blind To Others Problems And Pains. Not Seeing Them Means Denying Their Existence.

I Would Like To Say How Much I Resent People Who Say Of The Islamic Republic That This Is Our Culture - As If Women Like To Be Stoned To Death, Or As If They Like To Be Married At The Age Of Nine.

A Good Novel Is One That Shows The Complexity Of Individuals, And Creates Enough Space For All These Characters To Have A Voice; In This Way A Novel Is Called Democratic - Not That It Advocates Democracy But That By Nature It Is So. Empathy Lies At The Heart Of Gatsby, Like So Many Other Great Novels - The Biggest Sin Is To Be Blind To Others' Problems And Pains. Not Seeing Them Means Denying Their Existence.

It Is Only Through Literature That One Can Put Oneself In Someone Else’s Shoes And Understand The Other’s Different And Contradictory Sides And Refrain From Becoming Too Ruthless. Outside The Sphere Of Literature Only One Aspect Of Individuals Is Revealed. But If You Understand Their Different Dimensions You Cannot Easily Murder Them.

She Was One Of Those People Who Are Irrevocably, Incurably Honest And Therefore Both Inflexible And Vulnerable At The Same Time.