Quotes from Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America

1. Firoozeh's father: "It's not what we eat or don't eat that makes us good people; it's how we treat one another. As you grow older, you'll find that people of every religion think they're the best, but that's not true. There are good and bad people in every religion. Just because someone is Muslim, Jewish, or Christian doesn't mean a thing. You have to look and see what's in their hearts. That's the only thing that matters, and that's the only detail God cares about" (85).

2. "Throughout his job ordeal, my father never complained. He remained an Iranian who loved his native country but who also believed in American ideals. He only said how sad it was that people so easily hate on an entire population simply because of the actions of a few. And what a waste it is to hate, he always said. What a waste" (121).

3. "The manager of the restaurant was a large Indian man with an overhanging stomach. The big tummy worked on Buddha but not on this guy. To add to his appeal, the whites of his eyes were manently bloodshot. This man could have easily been in Star Wars" (151). A plus for mentioning SW. :)

4. "My parents are highly evolved worriers. My mother once called me in the middle of the day to make sure I wear shoes when cleaning the attic because she had just heard about a woman who, while cleaning her attic barefoot, was bitten by a rare brown slider whose venom cut off the circulation to her extremities. Consequently, the woman's nose fell off. It was pointless for me to remind my mother that I do not have an attic" (155).

5. "Watching this jovial group, I found myself overcome with sadness. I couldn't help but think of all the Iranian women who had paid to have their noses broken and reshaped just so someone might find them worthy of love. I thought of all the little girls I had known who had learned to cringe at their own reflections. I remembered how much I admired Jane Fonda's nose when I was in fourth grade in Tehran, and how much I hated my own. Thinking of all that wasted energy, I wanted to scream and tell my fellow countrymen and countrywomen that a nose by any other name is just a nose. It does not hold a soul, for no matter how big our noses may be, our souls are far, far bigger" (165-166).

6. "Swimsuit competitions go against everything that is right and decent in this world. We're told that beauty is on the inside and that who we are matters far more than what we look like. But could you please just put on this bikini and walk around in high heels so I can judge your inner beauty? I don't know which was worse, to be a contestant or a judge. I wanted to stand up in the table and tell the girls to take off their high heels and hurl them at the organizers of this event, demanding that the pageant be replaced by a spelling bee. Instead, I just sat there and prayed for the end" (177).

Quotes by Anne Frank

"It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." -Anne Frank

"I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains... My advice is : 'Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy!'" -Anne Frank

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction." -Anne Frank

"No one has ever become poor by giving." -Anne Frank

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." -Anne Frank

"We all live with the objective of being happy, our lives are all different and yet the same." -Anne Frank

"I've found that there is always some beauty left —in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can help you. Look at these things, then find yourself again, and God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!" -Anne Frank

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world." -Anne Frank

"I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that's why I'm grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop and to express all that's inside me!" -Anne Frank

"I have often been downcast, but never in despair." -Anne Frank

"People will always follow a good example; be the one to set a good example, then it won't be long before the others follow... How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!" -Anne Frank

"People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but it doesn't stop you having your own opinions. Even if people are still very young, they shouldn't be prevented from saying what they think." -Anne Frank

"The only way to truly know a person is to argue with them. For when they argue in full swing, then they reveal their true character." -Anne Frank

Quotes by Winston Churchill

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." –Winston Churchill

"Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." –Winston Churchill

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because, as has been said, 'it is the quality which guarantees all others.'" –Winston Churchill

Quotes by William Shakespeare

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." -William Shakespeare

"Sweet are the uses of adversity." -William Shakespeare

"Do not, for one repulse, forgo the purpose that you resolved to effort." -William Shakespeare

"The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can’t have them." -William Shakespeare

"Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile." -William Shakespeare

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." -William Shakespeare

"Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you will all they have." -William Shakespeare

"Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened." -William Shakespeare

"Truth needs no colour; beauty, no pencil." -William Shakespeare

"Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to." -William Shakespeare

"Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once." -William Shakespeare

Quotes by Helen Keller

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." -Helen Keller

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." -Helen Keller

"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." -Helen Keller

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." -Helen Keller

"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." –Helen Keller