A system that either physically eliminated the brightest and most dedicated or forced them to lay waste to the best in themselves

Farideh and Mina were polar opposites when it came to politics - one was a dedicated Marxist and the other a determined monarchist. What they shared was their unconditional hatred for the present regime. When I think of how their talents were wasted, my resentment grows for a system that either physically eliminated the brightest and most dedicated or forced them to lay waste to the best in themselves, transforming them into ardent revolutionaries, like Farideh , or hermits, like Mina and my magician. They withdrew and simmered in their dashed dreams.

A. Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Iran (2003), 204

Their messiness disappears and they gain a certain logic and clarity that one never feels at the time

In retrospect, when historical events are gathered up, analyzed and categorized into articles and books, their messiness disappears and they gain a certain logic and clarity that one never feels at the time. For me, as for millions of ordinary Iranians, the war came out of nowhere one mild fall morning: unexpected, unwelcome and utterly senseless.

A. Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003), 157