Writer Between Worlds

“Life is a snake. They are the same, Firdaus. If the snake realizes you are not a snake, it will bite you. And if life knows you have no sting, it will devour you. (…)
“When the street becomes your life, you no longer expect anything, hope for anything. But I expected something from love. With love I began to imagine that I had become a human being. When I was a prostitute I never gave anything for nothing, but always took something in return. But in love I gave my body and my soul, my mind and all the effort I could muster, freely. (…)
“A successful prostitute was better than a misled saint. All women are victims of deception. Men impose deception on women and punish them for being deceived.”

El Saadawi, Nawal. Woman at Point Zero. Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.