Mr Shahabi

“الجنون أن تبقى عائشا بداخلك فترة طويلة، متأملا منتظرا تبحث عن حافز و عن أمل، و الانتظار هذا الغول الذي يقتات من بقلبك و عقلك و أعصابك، لا يقول شيء و في الوقت نفسه يقول أشياء كثيرة.”
― وليد الرجيب, ؟من خلف الجدار

“Anything approaching the change that came over his features i have never seen before and hope to never see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror, of intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that Supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision, he cried twice, a cry that was no more than a breath.. "The Horror! The Horror!”
― Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

“Even while you know you are practicing a kind of deception on yourself, act like a king. You are likely to be treated as one.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

“Louis XI (1423-1483), the great Spider King of France, had a weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he admired, until one day the man predicted that a lady of the court would die within eight days. When the prophecy came true, Louis was terrified, thinking that either the man had murdered the woman to prove his accuracy or that he was so versed in his science that his powers threatened Louis himself. In either case he had to be killed. One evening Louis summoned the astrologer to his room, high in the castle. Before the man arrived, the king told his servants that when he gave the signal they were to pick the astrologer up, carry him to the window, and hurl him to the ground, hundreds of feet below. The astrologer soon arrived, but before giving the signal, Louis decided to ask him one last question: “You claim to understand astrology and to know the fate of others, so tell me what your fate will be and how long you have to live.” “I shall die just three days before Your Majesty,” the astrologer replied. The king’s signal was never given. The man’s life was spared. The Spider King not only protected his astrologer for as long as he was alive, he lavished him with gifts and had him tended by the finest court doctors. The astrologer survived Louis by several years, disproving his power of prophecy but proving his mastery of power.”
― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power