Leila Slimani quotes - page 2

Leila Slimani is a French-Moroccan writer and journalist, acclaimed for her exploration of contemporary social issues. Her novels, such as "Lullaby" ("Chanson douce"), have won major literary awards and stirred public debate. She is recognized as one of the most influential voices in modern French literature. Here are 38 of her quotes:

When I was a little girl, my first link to the world was as a reader. Sometimes, I feel a nostalgia for those times, for all the emotions I felt as a child - discovering novels, discovering Dickens, Balzac, or Dostoevsky. I wanted to be like those men. (Leila Slimani)
In Morocco, there is an insistence on authority. Children are not encouraged to speak up in front of their parents. My parents were not like this. I was the kind of girl who could tell her father, 'No, what you are saying is totally untrue, and I don't agree with you.' View quote
Leila Slimani
Everyone asks me, 'Why do you choose such subversive or shocking themes?' but when I'm alone in my office, I'm not like, 'OK I'm going to shock.' I want to write about a character who fascinates me, someone who I don't understand. View quote
Leila Slimani
When I was a little girl and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I got older, I always used to say I want to be paid to think. So for me, to dream, to think, to write - it is wonderful. View quote
Leila Slimani
I want to say that I can be Moroccan and speak about someone without speaking about his nationality. Because, you know, I have the feeling that when you come from Morocco, when you come from Afghanistan, when you come from Africa, Occidental people always wait for you to write a novel about identity. View quote
Leila Slimani
It's very important to say that French doesn't belong to France and to French people. Now you have very wonderful poets and writers in French who are not French or Algerian - who are from Senegal, from Haiti, from Canada, a lot of parts of the world. View quote
Leila Slimani
I love cooking shows! I'm not a bad cook myself, but I must say that I admire the creativity of those young chefs. It makes me jealous... and hungry. View quote
Leila Slimani
I love looking at pieces of art through the eyes of a child. View quote
Leila Slimani
You want your children to love the nanny, but at the same time, you want to stay the mother, and you want to be the most-loved. So there is a sort of jealousy between the mother and the nanny. View quote
Leila Slimani
People are not born evil, although we all have evil within us. View quote
Leila Slimani
My two sisters and I had a very nice nanny at home in Morocco until I was 13. I remember my parents saying how she had insinuated herself into our family. They knew she would suffer when we broke away from her. (Leila Slimani)
I just don't believe that a woman is naturally closer to her child than a man. Not at all. View quote
Leila Slimani
People don't want to treat their nannies subserviently. They don't want to act like bosses. And so nobody quite knows how to behave, and everyone is slightly pretending that the mother and nanny are 'equal' - when that's not the case. And pretending you are equal can make things complicated, even dangerous. View quote
Leila Slimani

Leila Slimani

Leila Slimani - Image
Occupation: French Writer
Born: October 3, 1981
Quotes count: 38