Quote by: Tahar Ben Jelloun

Pain, too, comes from depths that cannot be revealed. We do not know whether those depths are in ourselves or elsewhere, in a graveyard, in a scarcely dug grave, only recently inhabited by withered flesh. This truth, which is banal enough, unravels time and the face, holds up a mirror to me in which I cannot see myself without being overcome by a profound sadness that undermines one's whole being. The mirror has become the route through which my body reaches that state, in which it is crushed into the ground, digs a temporary grave, and allows itself to be drawn by the living roots that swarm beneath the stones. It is flattened beneath the weight of that immense sadness which few people have the privilege of knowing. So I avoid mirrors.


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Author Bio


  • NameTahar Ben Jelloun
  • DescriptionMoroccan writer and poet
  • BornDecember 1, 1944
  • CountryMorocco
  • ProfessionWriter; Poet; Psychotherapist; Novelist
  • WorksThe Sand Child; This Blinding Absence Of Light;
  • AwardsOfficer Of The Legion Of Honour; Grand Officer Of The Legion Of Honour; Commander Of The National Order Of Merit; Prix Goncourt