“On the twentieth-century scale, exile is neither aesthetically nor humanistically comprehensible: at most the literature about exile objectifies an
anguish and a predicament most people rarely experience first-hand”

– Edward Said

Refugee scholars “may take along a few letters of recommendation; they may try to reactivate acquaintances with native scholars met at international meetings or on previous visits, yet all but the few truly great international figures soon realize that much of their prestige and esteem remains in the minds of those they have left behind.”

– Lewis A. Coser