I didn't invent satire. I didn't come up with it. And it will continue to be a very powerful tool to disrupt political taboos and social taboos and religious taboos, because those taboos are always used to control and to curb people's way of creativity and thinking, by making them feel guilty because they want to make a change.
Bassem Youssef
Related There are no taboos in bed, and there shouldn't be any taboos in bed. FRANK LANGELLA Isn't privacy about keeping taboos in their place? KATE MILLETT I've done Graham Norton's show three times now. He tackles taboos and subject matter that wo... KYLE MACLACHLAN Partly what I'm writing about is the way taboos get toppled. GEORGE PACKER In this way we can see what taboos were swept away in the interim. KARL LENZ I think the greatest taboos in America are faith and failure. MICHAEL MALONE The trickster's function is to break taboos, create mischief, stir things up. In the end, the tr... TOM ROBBINS Through her paintings, she breaks all the taboos of the woman's body and of female sexuality. DIEGO RIVERA I'm always weary of connotations. I don't want people to listen to the music I make presentl... DEV HYNES What I've always loved about faeries is the way that they, unlike so many other supernatural cre... HOLLY BLACK I'm drawn to the taboos that surround the human body. I find it fascinating that we are repelled... MARY ROACH It's not a double standard because it's the right of every culture to have its own taboos. ROGER KOPPEL I didn't want my daughter brought up by nannies, and I didn't want her to feel I wasn't ... LATANYA RICHARDSON Sex and religion are still the great taboos in modern art. GILBERT PROESCH Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel... STEVE JOBS I fell into playwriting accidentally, took some classes in it, and also took creative writing classe... ORSON SCOTT CARD The sciences are being held back by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas, maintained by powerf... RUPERT SHELDRAKE I used to want to be in 'Downton' because I had never been in a period drama, but then I did... OLIVIA COLMAN I defied nothing at all. I ignored the law because I didn't know it existed. It didn't occur... MARGARET ANDERSON I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES I really started to forget things. That's why I quit reciting statistics: because I couldn't... TERRY BRADSHAW I remember feeling enormous pressure because I didn't want to be Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple ... MARA WILSON I didn't have a thing to do with picking a coach, and didn't want to. But I didn't think... BEAR BRYANT Like most comics, I tried to come up with a sitcom idea that was based around my life. And it didn... BILL BURR The Christian community latched onto a lot of my music, because there were a lot of things about my ... SCOTT STAPP Poetry and art are key influences in changing how we look at taboos. RUPI KAUR Acting was always there, it's true. But for a long time, in my teenage years, I wasn't sure ... BILL SKARSGARD My first job was as a waitress, and I waitressed for a long, long time. I was a very bad waitress. I... CHERYL HINES Our duties and responsibilities as human beings must be shown to be so incontrovertible that even at... HANS JONAS International peace and security depend on certain taboos that are easily recognized when they are b... IAN LUSTICK Highly educated women should challenge social taboos and get married to a man who is less educated, ... LU JIANMIN There are Tantrics who deliberately seek to do more active forms of renunciation, so transgression o... ZEENA SCHRECK It's funny to be discovered by a lot of people who didn't know you before. People always use... TERRY O'QUINN I identify very proudly as a disabled woman. I identify with the crip community. I didn't invent... STELLA YOUNG With acting, I felt like I had a lot to prove because I didn't study it; I didn't work my wa... TAVI GEVINSON I do not think they are asking for respect in this case. They want me to follow one of their taboos ... FLEMMING ROSE Yes! Very funny this terrible thing is. A man that is born falls into a dream like a man who falls i... JOSEPH CONRAD Black people were very angry with me for writing the book. A lot of people didn't believe me, or... LATOYA JACKSON We have a tradition of satire in Denmark. We do the same with the royal family, politicians, anyone.... FLEMMING ROSE I've done a lot of partying in my time because I didn't want to go home and I didn't kno... NATALIE IMBRUGLIA When facing the public, politicians constantly filter their ideas through a political sieve. 'Ho... MADELEINE M. KUNIN I'm interested in the dark side of man. I'm interested in taboos, and murder is the greatest... ELIZABETH GEORGE Mental health is one of the last great taboos. STEPHEN FRY I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to go back to Kansas. It was just bizarre. There's a lot of ve... DYLAN MORAN 'Hairspray' maybe did change people's minds, and that's how you get your political e... JOHN WATERS It may sound funny, but it's true: I tried to put myself through the 12-step program. I didn'... OCTAVIA SPENCER Today, literate people of the space age, in well-populated countries, are not prepared to accept tab... EDITH CLARA SUMMERSKILL Isn't privacy about keeping taboos in their place? KATE MILLET Today, fear of bloodshed is forcing us into recognizing new taboos: those of Muslims. PATRICK CHAPPATTE I always hired widows with children, because they had to work and didn't have any foolishness ab... COLONEL SANDERS When I was little, I used to watch Disney movies all the time, and it drove me crazy that Cinderella... ALLISON WILLIAMS The small amount of people that control the discourse around painting - I thought that the whole mus... FRED TOMASELLI I didn't want to make it a lifetime thing. I don't believe in statutory term limits, but peo... GEORGE J. MITCHELL I used to be fast and loose with the term 'country' because I didn't know what else to c... CAITLIN ROSE I have always thought it was a terrible shame that the women's movement didn't realise how m... NORA EPHRON I feel that Jane's is really a vibe and a time. It wasn't like we were the Beatles. We didn&... ERIC AVERY I look for a sense of reality with everything I did. I didn't work in a studio, I didn't lig... EVE ARNOLD I like stuff designed by dead people. The old designers. They always got it right because they didn&... JOHN MAEDA I've asked Jobs why he didn't get an operation then and he said, 'I didn't want my b... WALTER ISAACSON When I was collecting material for a political gossip column, and someone said something interesting... SIMON HOGGART I have a pretty positive view of environmental activism, but I didn't know much about the ELF. A... MARSHALL CURRY That was just my own personal program: I didn't want to get too high over the good moments becau... JULIUS ERVING And some of those people that voted Republican are now going to say, what a mistake I made because I... JAMES P. HOFFA Celebrity culture, it's everywhere, isn't it? It's reality TV, Big Brother. I didn't... RYAN GIGGS You don't choose a party because it's the flavour of the month. I feel I will be able to wor... NANDAN NILEKANI 37. It is better to be single and unhappy than unhappily married. JAMES C. DOBSON Are you taking us to the beach?" - Dan Cahill JUDE WATSON It used to be that film stars didn't want to do TV, and actors weren't singing, and singers ... TIKA SUMPTER I didn't want to be greedy. It's a mark of bad character and I always believed that pigs go ... WALTER ANNENBERG Life is livable because we know that whatever we go most of the people we meet will be restrained in... HAVELOCK ELLIS If I didn't want to work for a couple of years, I wouldn't have to-it's a great feeling,... TRACEY EMIN I had to act in a school play when I was about ten years old. I really didn't want to do it. But... KRISTEN STEWART I think it's nice to have children. I didn't have many, and while I don't sit around reg... LULU One thing I've been thinking about is taking the social issues out of national politics. For exa... JOE WURZELBACHER I enjoyed hitting in the Major Leagues more than in the Minor Leagues. I didn't want to tell any... WILLIE MCCOVEY I didn't grow up thinking I was pretty; there was always a prettier girl than me. So I learned t... KERRY WASHINGTON I think most people who were involved with television will tell you, if given a season or given a 13... TOM CAVANAGH I used the name Jane Roe because I didn't want my personal name to be involved in it. NORMA MCCORVEY Well as I said in France I didn't get auditions, and it's very difficult to get an agent in ... BERENICE MARLOHE Through her paintings, she breaks all the taboos of the woman's body and of female sexuality. DIEGO RIVERA I didn't expect to be doing a whole bunch of Amber Browns. And because it was just one book, and... PAULA DANZIGER The reason 'Detox' didn't come out was because I didn't like it. DR. DRE Up to nineteen seventy six when I quit gymnastics I was very, disappointed because I didn't have... OLGA KORBUT There are no taboos. Every topic is open, however shocking. It is the way that the topics are handle... ROBERT CORMIER They really stay just characters to me. I look at them, and I don't see always the same person u... CHARLIZE THERON I used to write in school a lot; I always liked it and used to write on my own, comic books, come up... RYAN COOGLER I haven't worked enough to worry about getting typecast, but I do as a film lover didn't wan... ALDEN EHRENREICH I grew up in a time when women didn't really do comedy. You had to be homely, overweight, an old... LILY TOMLIN I would hope that people didn't think I was anything like Joan! It's very hard for me becaus... CHRISTINA HENDRICKS I didn't want to have braces when I was a kid and I'm pretty sure my dad didn't want to ... JESSICA PARE And so um, I knew that I really didn't want to be a priest and didn't want to be a celibate,... THOMAS KENEALLY I can't get enough of 'Pulp Fiction.' I just love it; it still holds up. And it didn'... TIMOTHY OLYPHANT I wrote stories from the time I was a little girl, but I didn't want to be a writer. I wanted to... JOAN DIDION Thinking of that movie 'The Artist'; if anyone ever needed to reach anyone, I'm just thi... EDY GANEM Suddenly I could control every aspect of publishing, and it was incredibly empowering! I didn't ... TERESA MEDEIROS I've never been a planner. I didn't know I was going to run for the State House. I didn'... NIKKI HALEY I was asked to be in Vogue but I said no. I didn't want to advertise make-up. I didn't want ... FRANCESCA ANNIS I made it about a three-day weekend so people wouldn't have to change their clothes a lot. We di... JOHN SAYLES We want to support our troops because they didn't make the decision to go there... but I don'... EDWARD KENNEDY The movie, if I recall, didn't have to do with the television show because there were concerns f... DAVID SELBY
More Bassem Youssef
Islam's not just about covering your hair. It's about how you treat other people. BASSEM YOUSSEF We have dealt with the Arab/Muslim problem in the American media in every single way but through com... BASSEM YOUSSEF I can go back to Egypt anytime I want. Can I leave Egypt anytime I want? I think I can. I think I ca... BASSEM YOUSSEF A lot of people tend to glorify the role of satire and comedians. They put them up as role models, a... BASSEM YOUSSEF A revolution is not an event. It's a process. And it takes its time. BASSEM YOUSSEF I'm not a revolutionary, and I'm not a warrior. BASSEM YOUSSEF I pity Americans for their very bad fruits. Your 'mango' is cucumber. The only thing I reall... BASSEM YOUSSEF I chose the Egyptian dream: the dream to make a TV show, and then be called an infidel by the end. BASSEM YOUSSEF Part of the reason why people get radicalized is because they feel they are disenfranchised; that th... BASSEM YOUSSEF We are two brothers: I am a doctor; my brother is an engineer. BASSEM YOUSSEF The bigger you become of a celebrity, the bigger the expectations, the pressure on you - to make cha... BASSEM YOUSSEF When we overthrew Mubarak, we did this in 18 days. And because we were very naive and very unexperie... BASSEM YOUSSEF I do think that this planet is a totally unjust planet. I mean throughout history - history paints a... BASSEM YOUSSEF Theocratic and military authorities share one thing: they have no sense of humour. BASSEM YOUSSEF This is the conundrum of the present regimes in the Arab world. They still want to control youth; th... BASSEM YOUSSEF There's no glory and no respect in making fun of the weak, the powerless. BASSEM YOUSSEF The joke is mightier than the sword. BASSEM YOUSSEF Countries aren't built by boring people. BASSEM YOUSSEF Sarcasm all around the world is always against right wing and against people in power. That's th... BASSEM YOUSSEF The importance of satire is bringing more people to the table. There are a lot of average citizens w... BASSEM YOUSSEF I get very confused about being called a comedian, because when you say 'I'm a comedian,'... BASSEM YOUSSEF I never thought of myself as a comedian. That is a label - make me laugh. I want to make you think. BASSEM YOUSSEF What I hope to do in the States is to break up this stereotyping of Muslims and Arabs. I mean, we ar... BASSEM YOUSSEF My show in Egypt was called, 'The Show,' or, 'Al Bernameg' in Arabic. Basically, it ... BASSEM YOUSSEF Egyptian comedy has a very, very old tradition. Our theater and our movies are just, like, amazing. ... BASSEM YOUSSEF The Dark Satirist, like the Dark Knight - that could be a good name for a superhero. BASSEM YOUSSEF It's kinda me and Jon Stewart have a pact together - so he's making me famous in the Western... BASSEM YOUSSEF The departure of Mr Sharon would be carried most heavily on the shoulders of the Palestinians. The P... BASSEM EID The international community should interfere here. Not only to put pressure on the Palestinian Autho... BASSEM EID We know about workers [with permits] to work inside Israel, and one day these people [have] their wo... BASSEM EID We ask not only the families. We ask also the neighborhood. We ask friends. We ask people who know t... BASSEM EID They were beating us with fists and batons and were kicking us. Then they cuffed our hands and also ... BASSEM SHAKER I was one of 250 unemployed people demonstrating in the street in 2004, but when we reached the gove... BASSEM SHAKER Part of the controversy was that it's a pretty deep lot, separated into two parcels, and the parcel ... BASSEM BITAR Religion provides us with a puritanical dream, which can never be realized because it goes against h... YOUSSEF ZIEDAN I analyze religious knowledge and consciousness. YOUSSEF ZIEDAN Beelzebub is the isolated part of the human being. This part or this real human being has been obscu... YOUSSEF ZIEDAN Strategically its very important. From a financial perspective, its not enough to move the needle in... YOUSSEF SQUALI Assets like Standard Life don't come about every day. They have sizeable market share in the UK and ... YOUSSEF ZIAI We maintain a bullish view, however predicated on indications that the fourth quarter is tracking in... YOUSSEF SQUALI I was in the lift when I heard the blast and I helped evacuate one of the wounded. YOUSSEF KARYOUTI Of course it's an enormous success story. But is it time to pause and reorganize the home front? I t... YOUSSEF IBRAHIM The AOL business has been in terrible shape the last year and a half, YOUSSEF SQUALI I think it's a trend. Problem is, you can't quantify it. YOUSSEF SQUALI All in all, we find the restructuring removes several overhangs on the stock, namely TWE-related com... YOUSSEF SQUALI There's no stopping us now. CHAHLA YOUSSEF We are going to show all of France that the movement is stronger than ever. There's no stopping us n... CHAHLA YOUSSEF The question is, what kind of acquisition can they make? The company has been extremely tight-lipped... YOUSSEF SQUALI If Case and Parsons sold stock knowing there was bad news coming out of the company, that would be u... YOUSSEF SQUALI It will tackle issues related to Arab security, whether conflicts between Arab states or issues affe... HESHAM YOUSSEF Iraq has been like hell for the last three years. I think it would surpass any expectation if a civi... HESHAM YOUSSEF Failure is not the end. In fact it is the beginning of a beautiful journey. JADE YOUSSEF