Leila Slimani Quotes

I am not patriotic or nationalistic, but the French language is like a country where I take refuge when I have nowhere else to go. It consoles me for everything. For me, the language no longer belongs to the colonialists

Leila Slimani

My parents were lovers of books, and they raised us in a manner that viewed freedom and subversion as indispensable

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

Leila Slimani

That animal part of us, it's the most interesting part. It's everything that has to do with drives, with things we can't stop ourselves from doing, with all the spaces where we're unable to reason with ourselves. It has its dark side, but there's a luminous side, too, which is the fact that we're just another species of animal

Leila Slimani

I just don't believe that a woman is naturally closer to her child than a man. Not at all

Leila Slimani

As a mother, you're only allowed to talk about the 'good' moments - not the ones when you've had enough and want to be on your own. Or just want to be a woman, not a mother

Leila Slimani

I like anti-hero women. Negative female characters interest me

Leila Slimani

When you become a 'public person,' I find it very difficult to keep following social media. It is too harsh, too violent. I only read newspapers online

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.'

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

Leila Slimani

People are not born evil, although we all have evil within us

Leila Slimani

I love looking at pieces of art through the eyes of a child

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

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

Leila Slimani

Let's stop hiding behind a pseudo-respect of cultures, in a sickening relativism that's only a mask for our cowardice, our cynicism, and our powerlessness. I, born Muslim, Moroccan, and French, I will say it to you: Sharia makes me vomit

Leila Slimani

The only way you can know someone is through their actions - you can never know what's going on inside them

Leila Slimani