Culture is mix. Culture means a mix of things from other sources. And my town, Istanbul, was this kind of mix. Istanbul, in fact, and my work, is a testimony to the fact that East and West combine cultural gracefully, or sometimes in an anarchic way, came together, and that is what we should search for.

Orhan Pamuk

Tell me then, does love make one a fool or do only fools fall in love?

Orhan Pamuk

falling-in-love doe fall

The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.

Orhan Pamuk

color eye compassion

Before my birth there was infinite time, and after my death, inexhaustible time. I never thought of it before: I'd been living luminously between two eternities of darkness.

Orhan Pamuk

infinite-time darkness two

How much can we ever know about the love and pain in another heart? How much can we hope to understand those who have suffered deeper anguish, greater deprivation, and more crushing disappointments than we ourselves have known?

Orhan Pamuk

crush pain disappointment

I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.

Orhan Pamuk

reading inspirational book

Any intelligent person knows that life is a beautiful thing and that the purpose of life is to be happy," said my father as he watched the three beauties. "But it seems only idiots are ever happy. How can we explain this?

Orhan Pamuk

intelligent beautiful father

Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.

Orhan Pamuk

arms knowing world

There are two kind of men,' said Ka, in a didatic voice. 'The first kind does not fall in love until he's seen how the girls eats a sandwich, how she combs her hair, what sort of nonsense she cares about, why she's angry at her father, and what sort of stories people tell about her. The second type of man -- and I am in this category -- can fall in love with a woman only if he knows next to nothing about her.

Orhan Pamuk

falling-in-love girl father

Life is beautiful if you are on the road to somewhere

Orhan Pamuk

life-is beautiful travel

Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.

Orhan Pamuk

pet-loss owning-a-pet dog

Love is a sacred silence.

Orhan Pamuk

sacred silence love-is

A letter doesn't communicate by words alone. A letter, just like a book, can be read by smelling it, touching it and fondling it. Thereby, intelligent folk will say, 'Go on then, read what the letter tells you!' whereas the dull-witted will say, 'Go on then, read what he's written!

Orhan Pamuk

touching intelligent book

When we lose people we love, we should never disturb their souls, whether living or dead. Instead. we should find consolation in an object that reminds you of them, something...I don't know...even an earring

Orhan Pamuk

soul should people

For if a lover's face survives emblazoned on your heart, the world is still your home.

Orhan Pamuk

home heart world

Censorship should never be allowed. One should be able to say anything. But I refuse to let politics be foisted on me.

Orhan Pamuk

censorship able say-anything

The bloody years of war and all the atrocities in European history have taught the Europeans that secular politics free of religious hatred is mainly a question of peace. This concept is not anchored in the same way in the consciousness of Turks, which has to do with the fact that the secular was forced upon us by the army.

Orhan Pamuk

army religious war

A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that makes him who he is: when I speak of writing, what comes first to my mind is not a novel, a poem, or literary tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a table, and alone, turns inward; amid its shadows, he builds a new world with words.

Orhan Pamuk

mind writing years

Sometimes I sensed that the books I read in rapid succession had set up some sort of murmur among themselves, transforming my head into an orchestra pit where different musical instruments sounded out, and I would realize that I could endure this life because of these musicales going on in my head.

Orhan Pamuk

musical different book

We live but for a short time, we see but very little, and we know almost nothing; so, at least, let's do some dreaming. Have yourself a very good Sunday, my dear readers.

Orhan Pamuk

sunday dream littles

After all, a woman who doesn't love cats is never going to be make a man happy.

Orhan Pamuk

cat men