For me, writing stories is one way of feeling connected to the universe and God. Elif Safak More Quotes by Elif Safak More Quotes From Elif Safak Almost half of the Turkish population believes it is not legitimate to criticize the government. Interestingly, this correlates with the number of supporters of Erdogan's government. Elif Safak governmentnumbersbelieve I remember a time when it was ok to make fun of politicians and powerful people. Now, it's not ok anymore. We've forgotten how to laugh. Elif Safak powerfulfunpeople In a normal democracy, you protect the individual from the excessive power of the state. In Turkey, power elites try to protect the state - as if this state were fragile and needed protection - when in fact, it's too powerful already. Elif Safak turkeysdemocracypowerful I believe in optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect. But my hope is the people, the society, which is ahead of the government. Elif Safak optimismgovernmentbelieve When societies go backwards and slide into authoritarianism, nationalism, and tribalism, machismo and sexism are also emboldened. Elif Safak gosexismnationalismbackwards If there is no love between the author and the story, there is no love between the reader and the story. Elif Safak betweenstoryno-lovelove Politicians and leaders who see the media as 'the enemy within' divide society into two clashing cultural camps. Populist demagogues benefit from binary oppositions. Elif Safak politiciansmediasocietyenemy I love commuting between languages just like I love commuting between cultures and cities. Elif Safak culturesjustlikelove Art and literature should help us to get out of our mental cocoons. Elif Safak ushelpliteratureart Part of me always felt like the other, the outsider, the observer. My father had two sons with his second wife, who I didn't meet until my late 20s. I was always on the periphery. In Madrid, I was the only Turk in a very international school, so I had to start thinking about identity. All these things affected me. Elif Safak mewifefatherthinking Books change us. Books save us. I know this because it happened to me. Books saved me. So, I do believe through stories we can learn to change, we can learn to empathize and be more connected with the universe and with humanity. Elif Safak mechangehumanitybelieve The lack of trust in supranational entities and cosmopolitan elite creates a fertile ground for tribalist belongings and reactionary politics. Elif Safak elitegroundtrustpolitics I realized over the years if I'm writing about humor, irony, satire, I much prefer to do that in English. And if there is sorrow, melancholy, longing, I much prefer to do that in Turkish. Each language has its own strength to me, and I feel connected and attached to both Turkish and English. I dream in more than one language. Elif Safak feelmestrengthhumor I spent my entire childhood observing people. I still do. Elif Safak stillobservingchildhoodpeople I find families intriguing, perhaps because I did not grow up in one. I was raised by a feminist, independent, single mother, a divorcee. Elif Safak growfindsinglemother I write with humour about sadness, to introduce an element of sweet to the sour, a bit like Turkish food. Elif Safak likesadnessfoodsweet I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a scary, chaotic process over which I have little control. Words demand other words, characters resist me. Elif Safak wordsmyselfmedrunk God is the biggest storyteller, and when we create stories, we connect with him and with each other across cultural, religious and gender boundaries. Elif Safak creategenderboundariesgod Writing is a tribute to solitude. It is choosing introversion over extroversion, lonely hours/days/weeks/years over fun and sociability. Elif Safak solitudelonelywritingfun The only way to learn writing is by writing. Talent, as charming as it sounds, amounts to no more than 12 per cent of the process. Work is 80 per cent. The remaining 8 per cent is 'luck' or 'zeitgeist' - in short, things that are not in our hands. Elif Safak talentluckworkhands
