Top 40 Samira Ahmed Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “The scariest monsters are the ones who seem the most like you.”

— Samira Ahmed

2. “A compass doesn’t tell you where you are, and it doesn’t tell you where you have to go. It can only point you in a direction. It’s up to you to always find your true north.”

— Samira Ahmed

3. “What’s that thing people always say about history? Unless we know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it? Never forget? Isn’t that the lesson? But we always forget. Forgetting is in the American grain.”

— Samira Ahmed

4. “America is us. America is ours. It’s worth fighting for. The people united will never be defeated. Resist.”

— Samira Ahmed

5. “There’s never been a wall that people haven’t been able to get by.”

— Samira Ahmed

6. “The stars have all gone out. Only darkness remains.”

— Samira Ahmed

7. “We must build bridges, conquer hate with love, and meet intolerance with a renewed commitment to education and open-mindedness. From many, we are one.”

— Samira Ahmed

8. “But it’s also a reminder that being quiet doesn’t always signify weakness. Sometimes it takes great strength to find that silence. Sometimes it takes incredible strength to survive.”

— Samira Ahmed

9. “One detail that’s impossible to miss? Just like in the train station, every person with a gun is white, and not white like maybe they’re Bosnian – the kind of white that thinks internment camps are going to make America great again.”

— Samira Ahmed

10. “It’s selfish and horrible, but in this terrible moment, all I want is to be a plain old American teenager. Who can simply mourn without fear. Who doesn’t share last names with a suicide bomber. Who goes to dances and can talk to her parents about anything and can walk around without always being anxious. And who isn’t a presumed terrorist first and an American second.”

— Samira Ahmed

11. “And for those who bear the brunt of hate because of the color of their skin, or the sound of their name, or the scarf on their head, or the person they love; for those who are spat upon, for those who are told to “go home” when they are home: you are known. You are loved. You are enough. Let your light shine. I wrote this book for you.”

— Samira Ahmed

12. “There are literally centuries of women who never got to tell their stories. An invisible hand squeezes my heart for the nameless women history brushed aside.”

— Samira Ahmed

13. “The people united will never be defeated. Resist.”

— Samira Ahmed

14. “Praying is important. But you can’t simply pray for what you want. You have to act.”

— Samira Ahmed

15. “I’m tired of hiding all the important parts of myself.”

— Samira Ahmed

16. “The thing is, it’s not like half this country suddenly became Islamophobes because of any single event. But the lies, the rhetoric calling refugees rapists and criminals, the fake news, the false statistics, all gave those well-meaning people who say they’re not bigots cover to vote for a man who openly tweeted his hatred of us on a nearly daily basis.”

— Samira Ahmed

17. “My body remembers what part of my mind wants to forget – because there are times when I struggle to reconcile what I gave up to be here, in this very moment, despite how much I wanted it. How much I do want it. The past may be prologue, but it’s with me, every day.”

— Samira Ahmed

18. “Then I glance beyond the fence at the sea of people. In this place where I thought I was lost, the world has found me. Hope courses through my veins.”

— Samira Ahmed

19. “I think of all the people throughout history who found themselves in a place like this, stepping out from the shadows, raising their voices. Finding their courage, facing their fears so that they could be free. There were so many we lost, the ones who were taken, cut down, for the color of their skin, or the religion they practiced, or the person they loved. All they wanted was to live.”

— Samira Ahmed

20. “Even if we lived in India, I would still be who I am and want what I want. Geography wouldn’t have changed that.”

— Samira Ahmed

21. “One thing I’ve learned: people love a camera, and when I’m filming, they see it, not me, so whenever I need to, I can quietly disappear behind my trusty shield.”

— Samira Ahmed

22. “He said that my fear made me more alert. That I could channel my fear into focus.”

— Samira Ahmed

23. “These terrorists are the antithesis of Islam. They’re not Muslim. Violence has no place in religion, and the terrorists are responsible for their own crimes, not the religion and not us.”

— Samira Ahmed

24. “From our beginning as a nation, we have admitted to our country and to citizenship immigrants from the diverse lands of the world. We had faith that thereby we would best serve ourselves and mankind.1 1 Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, Nov. 17, 1994 US Naturalization Oath Ceremony.”

— Samira Ahmed

25. “It must be a strange feeling to love a child and all the while be raising them to leave you.”

— Samira Ahmed

26. “In recent times we’ve seen hate emerge out of dark corners, torches blazing in the night. We’ve witnessed so-called leaders not merely casually accept cruelty, but engender it. Worse, we’ve seen horrific violence. But all around us, we’ve seen people rise up, not merely against the forces of hate, but for equality and justice. Bigotry may run through the American grain, but so too does resistance. We know the world we are fighting for.”

— Samira Ahmed

27. “First love is one you never forget.”

— Samira Ahmed

28. “It’s not about danger. It’s about fear. People are willing to trade their freedom, even for a false sense of protection.” My dad shakes his head. “’There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

— Samira Ahmed

29. “They can take away my freedom, but not my fantastic ability to hold a grudge.”

— Samira Ahmed

30. “Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s doing the right thing in spite of it.”

— Samira Ahmed

31. “Rebellion is as American as apple pie. And so is fascism.”

— Samira Ahmed

32. “They stay quiet, using their silence and privilege as a shield to protect themselves.”

— Samira Ahmed

33. “It’s not about danger. It’s about fear. People are willing to trade their freedom, even for a false sense of protection.”

— Samira Ahmed

34. “If history had no ghosts, I wouldn’t be terrified of what might come next.”

— Samira Ahmed

35. “No matter what the verdict is. No matter how long they would serve. They’re alive. Jawad isn’t. We might get accountability, but it won’t be justice. What’s justice for a murdered kid?”

— Samira Ahmed

36. “You need only glance to the vastness of the sky and the multitude of the stars to know the infinite depth of our love.”

— Samira Ahmed

37. “Thanks. I love cake.”

— Samira Ahmed

38. “They clung to their belief in the American ideals of equality and freedom of religion even when they heard our leaders say that men gathering around Confederate statues with hands raised in Nazi salute were “very fine people.”

— Samira Ahmed

39. “Attempts at progress or inclusion can anger people when they’ve never had to compete on a level playing field.”

— Samira Ahmed

40. “In American Lit class once, we discussed America as a metaphor tying it into how the country is represented in books, movies, songs. You know, America is a melting pot. America is a mixed salad. America is a shining city on a hill. America is the country where a skinny kid with a funny name can defeat the odds and become president. But America doesn’t seem like any of those things anymore. Maybe it never was.”

— Samira Ahmed

41. “It’s like he’s not even a real person. But the thing is, he is a person, which I guess makes it even more frightening.”

— Samira Ahmed

42. “How do human beings not explode from too many feelings?”

— Samira Ahmed