Top 82 Quotes & Sayings by Tunisian Authors

I like black, because for me it is a very happy color.

Tunisia will continue to be a source of influence, not through its size but through the ideas and the models that it represents.

To fight extremism, we will need to pursue a two-pronged strategy: both 'hard,' through stricter control of our borders and a more robust and technologically advanced security response, and 'soft,' based on better intelligence-gathering, working to return our mosques to their spiritual function and barring entry to foreign preachers.

The danger is we're losing sight of what women really want to wear.

I learned French in Tunis, along with Arabic. I also learned French history. I knew the entire history of the kings of France. And I was fascinated by Versailles.

Women must know themselves better than anyone. If you have ugly legs, wear long dresses. If you have long, great legs, show them.

There was a woman in Tunisia called Madame Pinot. She was a midwife and had helped in the birth of my siblings and me. I assisted her. I helped women give birth to a lot of babies when I was very young.

'Vogue' remains while its fashion editors come and go.

My father could be very strict, but very fair. His father was the same. We all respected my grandfather; he was the head of the clan. Every morning, we all had to say good morning and kiss his hand. But not me. I jumped on his lap and bit him.

I've been wearing Chinese clothes since I was 14. I can't wear a suit. I'm small, and when I put on a suit, it's not possible.

In modelling, it's very hard to keep in touch with the people you knew when you started.

You know Sarkozy offered me the Legion d'honneur medal? I refused. People said I refused because I don't like Sarkozy, but that's ridiculous. I refused because I don't like decorations - except on women.

Al-Nahda is a movement; it is not just a small party.

It's important to make women feel confident, because I think they are more important than men.

I am always in doubt; I am never sure of myself.

Anna Wintour doesn't deal with pictures; she is just doing PR and business, and she scares everybody.

When you are a politician, it means to work for the benefit of the country, not to stay home. In politics, it ends only when one dies.

Who can really say who invents something first in fashion?

We respect every religion. Everyone is free to practice his religion freely... In the Tunisian parliament, we have even Jews.

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.

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

The present fashion system is too hard - there are too many collections. The designers have no time to think! Money is too important. Schedules are too crazy.

I had used the stretch materials for years to shape the inside of garments I made for private clients. Then I just started using them on their own.

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.

As a child, I was raised with my grandmother, alongside all my cousins, and the kitchen was always full.

If you're sad about what you see in the mirror when you wake up every morning, you must change it.

There is no future for Tunisia without consensus among political parties and members of civil society.

In an ordinary suit and tie, I'd look like a little macho. I'd be ridiculous.

I want to create a foundation, like a maison, in my home in the Marais. I am going to leave everything there. I am only passing through. I'm not a proprietor of anything, even if I have homes and things.

Fashion will last forever. It will exist always. It will exist in its own way in each era.

I'm working 24 hours a day. I have had a house in Tunisia for 20 years, and I never have time to go because there are collections, fittings.

My obsession is to make women beautiful. When you create with that in mind, things can't go out of fashion.

As for success, I don't care for it. It is a fragile thing.

In our modern age - in the age of free information - I don't think there is any place for dictatorships.

I take it to heart that, for example, there aren't enough funds for AIDS research, but people pay 20 times the value of an item of clothing.

There is a sensuality about fabric. I think all materials should be inviting when they touch the skin. When I watch children stroking their mother's clothes, I feel that I have succeeded.

I never followed fashion. It's women who have dictated my conduct.

A human being is not a machine. Especially when it comes to creating.

No one in al-Nahda believes that jihad is a way to impose Islam on the world. But we believe that jihad is self-control, is social and political struggle, and even military jihad is only a way to defend oneself in the case of aggression.

The foundation of beauty is the body.

I put myself on the same level as everyone else around me - from the directrice to the workman, everyone. Except my pets - they are the Kings; you must treat them like royalty.

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.

Bill Cunningham... he knows fashion better than anybody.

There is no dignity without work. You can't tell someone who has nothing to eat to stay patient.

If I don't have a model in front of me, I don't have an idea.

Ballet costumes are easier that opera because they are designed for movement.

I work for women. I only think for them. If I didn't like women, I wouldn't do this job.

I prefer to stay poor.

Beyonce is a beautiful, elegant woman who is also a wonderful dancer. And her voice is sublime. Just like her husband, Jay-Z, Beyonce has real talent. They are both the kind of truly great artist who will be remembered by history. Their child will be lucky to have such talented parents.

I'm happier about my friends than I am about my work. I still have a long way to go with work. My friends, that's the one thing I'm sure about.

I am very curious. Every day, I say: 'What am I going to learn today, and whom am I going to meet?'

You have to take things with a lot of laughter. I laugh with everyone; this way, I will be able to die happy.

I don't wear perfume, and I don't like the air to be too saturated with scents.

A woman is like an actress: she's always onstage.

I love American girls. They're audacious. They put more outrageous things on their bodies than anybody.

Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life.

I would rather die than see my face in a car advertisement.

As I said many times, the fashion world, its system, can be disturbing.

When I was growing up, I never heard the word 'racism.' It was only in Paris I encountered that.

I am never sure that anything's good enough. Something that is good today will not be good tomorrow.