Quotes by Kamand Kojouri

What you choose also chooses you.

You have to be transparent so you no longer cast a shadow but instead let the light pass through you.

Happiness is exercising the little freedom that we have by choosing things that create harmony in our lives.

Ignorance might be bliss. But self-forgetfulness is pure ecstasy.

Love, they said, burns youand builds you.But with you, there’s no ash.Just light.

They want us to be afraid. They want us to be afraid of leaving our homes. They want us to barricade our doors and hide our children. Their aim is to make us fear life itself! They want us to hate. They want us to hate the other. They want us to practice aggression and perfect antagonism. Their aim is to divide us all! They want us to be inhuman. They want us to throw out our kindness. They want us to bury our love and burn our hope. Their aim is to take all our light! They think their bricked walls will separate us. They think their damned bombs will defeat us. They are so ignorant they don’t understand that my soul and your soul are old friends. They are so ignorant they don’t understand that when they cut you I bleed. They are so ignorant they don’t understand that we will never be afraid, we will never hate and we will never be silent for life is ours!

Heres another poem,like all others before and after,dedicated to you.There isnt anything left to be saidbut I will spend my lifetrying to put you into words.You who is every goodness,every optimismand hope.Your love is a better fate for methan anything I could wish for.If you are a part of me, then you’re the best part.And if youre separate from me, then you are my destination.But I’ve become a weary traveller,so please,let us never be apart.

You only feel powerless because your fear has given your power to the object of your fear. Once you realise this, you can claim it back.

I would rather lie facedown on the ground and use my body as a bridge, than stand proud and tall and use my body as a wall.

We cannot hunt for love. We can only surrender and become love’s prey.

You might just find God in a mirror one day.

I see your painas clearly as I feel my own.I will share your burden so you feel it less.Do not hate this world.Do not hate these people.I will share my hopeso you feel it more.I want you to see our loveas clearly as I feel yours.

In the beginning was love, and love was with God, and love was God.

God begets love.

Why do you feel so powerless? Go spend an hour with ants. Each of those black specks you see is a life. One whole life that you can save, take, or affect in some way. You have the power to make so many lives better. It is within you. Don’t lose sight of that.

You want help? Ask for help. You want love? Ask for love. If you want anything from the universe, anything from yourself, you must first ask.

You must have hope in a better future and have faith in this hope. But then you must forget your hope and focus on this moment now.

It’s so easy to lose faith and become lost in all of the politics of the world. That’s why we need the arts. To sublimate our frustration and anger into something beautiful. Freud called sublimation a virtuous defence mechanism because it is in the arts that we can find our humanity.

Kiss your scars. Fall in love with them. They ought to serve as life-affirming reminders—a lingering trace of hope. The only reason we have these scars is because we survived and are still here.

I don’t know why everyoneis still trying to find out whether heaven and hell exist.Why do we need more evidence?They exist here on this very Earth.Heaven is standing atop Mount Qasiounoverlooking the Damascene sightswith the wind carrying Qabbani’sdulcet words all around you.And hell is only four hours away in Aleppo where children’s cries drown out the explosions of mortar bombsuntil they lose their voice,their families, and their limbs.Yes, hell certainly does existright now, at this moment,as I pen this poem. And all we’re doingto extinguish this hellfireis sighing, shrugging, liking, and sharing.Tell me: what exactly does that makeus? Are we any better than the gatekeepers of hell?