54 Quotes by Leïla Slimani

I love looking at pieces of art through the eyes of a child.

'Lullaby' is about boundaries.

The only way you can know someone is through their actions - you can never know what's going on inside them.

I remember that the first time I looked at my son, of course I felt love. But I think the first feeling was not love: it was fear. Someone is needing me. If something happens to him, what am I going to do? Maybe I won't survive if something happens to him? The fear was as big as the love.

Authors have a nationality; books do not.

One of the big mistakes of the Moroccan elite and the elite in the Muslim world was to be afraid of the conservatives. They are fighting for their ideas. Why shouldn't we fight for our ideas?

I am not afraid of being a pariah.

I knew I wanted to write about a nanny, but it was difficult for me to find a narrative rhythm.

When you live closely with people, you don't see who they really are. In particular, with nannies, they only exist in your home, and when they leave, they don't really exist anymore for you.