"My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize"

Naguib Mahfouz was an Egyptian author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988. In this quote, he is assessing his Nobel Prize win. He acknowledges that his other half assumed he should have the award, yet he himself was not so certain. He indicates that he really felt the Nobel Prize was a Western prize, and that he was uncertain he deserved it. This can be since he was an Egyptian author, as well as the Nobel Prize is commonly awarded to Western authors. He might have felt that his work was not as valued as that of Western authors, which he was not deserving of the award. This quote shows the feelings of lots of non-Western authors who have actually been granted the Nobel Prize, and also it highlights the significance of acknowledging the job of authors from all backgrounds.