Mahbuba Rahman Quotes

This is a miserable country, Zafar. I don't need to explain that to you. It needs help. Isn't it that simple?
Is anything that simple? ~ Zia Haider Rahman

No sight better expresses the politics of aid, the dynamics of the West and the developing countries, than the image of children, happy or in need. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives. - Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? ~ Zia Haider Rahman

When I travel with my kids abroad, I am not myself, but I'm more a father who wants to protect them. Sometimes, I am even aggressive about certain things and get surprised seeing myself like that: for instance, when people want to take pictures of them. I am fine if they want to take my pictures, but they are not public property. ~ A.R. Rahman

I joined the Madras Christian College but dropped out after three months. Telugu music director Ramesh Naidu asked me to assist him, and I did so for over a year. I did think of rejoining college, but by then, I was discovering the musician in me. I worked with Illaya Raja and Raj Koti and soon shifted to commercials. This led to movie offers. ~ A.R. Rahman

Mrs. Rahman. It was impossible to know whether Mokta ~ Nell Freudenberger

Some things are very low profile, but if they excite me creatively, I accept them. Sometimes there are high-profile projects, and you have to do it. We all have human limitations. It is a painful decision to turn things down. Even accepting 'Slumdog Millionaire' was a decision that I had to sacrifice another project. ~ A.R. Rahman

My mother's belief in spiritual healers grew stronger after our family went through a rough patch following my father's death. Sufi saint Karimullah Shah Kadri changed our lives, and all of us converted to Sufism. But it wasn't an instantaneous decision - it took us 10 years to convert. The change in religion was like washing away the past. ~ A.R. Rahman

I think I would like to discover a new root where people don't get bored with people singing boring lines but something exciting. That'd be interesting. ~ A.R. Rahman

Nor can one take an unfair attitude even towards enemies: "Let the enmity of a people[towards you] not determine you upon an unjust course; be fair, it is closer to taqwā. Quran ~ Fazlur Rahman

I was a common man, and I will always remain a common man. No amount of stardom will ever consume my soul. Money comes, money goes. Fame comes, fame goes. I believe every human being is a celebrity in their own right. ~ A.R. Rahman

My kids miss me when I'm away, but I don't mind living out of a suitcase. The U.K., U.S., France, Germany, Iraq ... it's such a thrill meeting people of different cultures, learning about and from them. It's changed my perception about life, humanity and spirituality. ~ A.R. Rahman

I want to go beyond the restrictions of language, religion and caste, and music is the only thing that allows me to do that. ~ A.R. Rahman

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Obama, Thank you for sending me Christmas and New Year greetings yet again. Welcome back to India ... Would have loved to host you at my concert in Baroda on the 26th! ~ A.R. Rahman

It's true that I love to connect with my fans on the social networking sites, but I try not to go overboard, ever. I just give people a peek into my mind space, but never bombard them with my tweets. ~ A.R. Rahman

It is no consolation to reflect that every cause itself is an effect, making the search for causes and reasons a fool's errand. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

Our choices are made, our will flexed, in the teeth of events that overwhelm us and devour us. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

This idea (Taqwa)can be effectively conveyed by the term "conscience," if the object of conscience transcends it. This is why it is proper to say that "conscience" is truly as central to Islam as love is to Christianity when one speaks of the human response to the ultimate reality - which, therefore, is conceived in Islam as merciful justice rather than fatherhood. Taqwā, then, in the context of our argument, means to be squarely anchored within the moral tensions, the "limits of God," and not to "transgress" or violate the balance of those tensions or limits. Human conduct then becomes endowed with that quality which renders it "service to God ['ibāda]. ~ Fazlur Rahman

How many senators have taken their conception of what America can do from what they've seen on the American movie screen? ~ Zia Haider Rahman

My point is that you could think of the people you meet in your life as questions, there to help you figure out who you are, what you're made of, and what you want. In life, as in our new version of the game, you start off not knowing the answer. It's only when the particles rub against each other that we figure out their properties. It's the strangest thing, this idea in quantum physics, and yet somehow unsurprising when you consider it as a metaphor. It's when the thing interacts that its properties are revealed, even resolved. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

The Qur'ān began by criticizing two closely related aspects of that society: the polytheism or multiplicity of gods which was symptomatic of the segmentation of society, and the gross socioeconomic disparities that equally rested on and perpetuated a pernicious divisiveness of mankind. The two are obverse and converse of the same coin: only God can ensure the essential unity of the human race as His creation, His subjects, and those responsible finally to Him alone. The economic disparities were most persistently criticized, because they were the most difficult to remedy and were at the hear of social discord - although tribal rivalries, with their multiple entanglements of alliance, enmity, and vengeance, were no less serious, and the welding of these tribes into a political unity was an imperative need. Certain abuses of girls, orphans, and women, and the institution of slavery demanded desperate reform. ~ Fazlur Rahman

It's a very simple process. He [Danny Boyl] comes in the tube (subway) and then he sits with me for 3 hours every evening and then I work on something. Then later, if he likes something, I put it even more perfectly. I tweak stuff. So this happened for 3 or 4 weeks and the music was done. ~ A.R. Rahman

Your inner voice is the voice of divinity. To hear it, we need to be in solitude, even in crowded places. ~ A.R. Rahman

I'm a Sufi Muslim, I would say. I believe in using the medium to create a good vibration because art is so important to society. Some projects I don't do because I feel that it's going to create a bad vibe. I don't do propaganda films that are anti another religion, anti-Muslim or anti-Hindu. ~ A.R. Rahman

So long as you do it truthfully, music is not to be judged. ~ A.R. Rahman

Some people think that as soon as you plant a tree, it must bear fruit. We must allow it to grow a bit. ~ Tunku Abdul Rahman

Sometimes, a remix is good because it reaches a whole new generation. But when it gets too much, it's irritating. Also, the original composer needs to be credited properly. ~ A.R. Rahman

If you respect a language and culture, it shows in your work. ~ A.R. Rahman

You think people never say what they mean. The truth is, nine times out of ten what they say is all they mean. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

I usually work on a film soundtrack for two years, turning in a song every few months, and that keeps my creative energy high, because I'm constantly rotating projects. The trick is to make sure I don't work too hard and get exhausted. ~ A.R. Rahman

Show me your friends I will tell you your future ~ Aniq Ur Rahman

I'm continuing to learn more about music - it's an ocean, and you can never really say that you know everything. I'm grateful that I'm still living and making music among the greats. ~ A.R. Rahman

Being an elite is not a mere possession or something "within" an actor (skills, talents, and human capital); it is an embodied performative act enabled by by both possessions and the inscriptions that accompany experiences within elite institutions (schools, clubs, families, networks, etc.). Our bodily tastes, dispositions, and tendencies are not simply something we're born with; they are things that are produced through our experiences in the world. Not only do they occur in our minds, but they are things we enact repeatedly so that soon these performances look less and less like an artificial role we're playing- a role that might advantage us- and instead look more and more like just who we naturally are. pg. 136 ~ Shamus Rahman Khan

I think music, in my opinion, is not about motivation in the way it's - it's not a running base. It's art. And my whole philosophy of music is different. It's almost like cooking and serving to people, seeing them smile and enjoying the food, really. ~ A.R. Rahman

There is only one of the two that can reside in our hearts, GOD or ego. If GOD is in ego is out. ~ A.R. Rahman

People Expect Something New From Me All The Time.And That's Good It Keeps Me On The Edge ~ A.R. Rahman

For me, there is no day or night for music. I often work through the night - without phone calls disturbing me. ~ A.R. Rahman

While other creators make a big show of their art Mani Sir makes it look as though anyone can do what he does. ~ A.R. Rahman

Put your trust in Allah and not in anyone other than Him, because it is known that He alone is the Helper. ~ Abd Ar-Rahman Ibn Nasir As-Sa'di

Your best success comes after your greatest disapponitment ~ A.R. Rahman

We're not put on this earth to fuck around. We have to make something of our lives. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

This struggle between good and evil, fresh and stale, new and decrepit,
between the vigor of moral youth and the dotage of senility, is of positive benefit, for it keeps the perennial moral values alive ~ Fazlur Rahman

We are a dangerous breed, you and I. We are lock pickers. We are dangerous to others and ourselves. It is always a great risk to open a door if you don't know what's behind it. ~ Zia Haider Rahman

Every time I sit for a song, I feel I am finished. It's like a beggar sitting waiting for God to fill your bowl with the right thought. In every song, I ask help from Him. Everybody around is so good, so to create music that will connect with so many people is not humanly possible without inspiration. ~ A.R. Rahman

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"The corruption of religious leaders, who were expected to be the source of spiritual force and regeneration, is the last step in the decay of a community. ~ Fazlur Rahman

All my life I have had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I am here ~ A.R. Rahman

That's another argument for writing: making something that outlasts you. ~ Zia Haider Rahman