I do not believe in a personal connection to God; that's where it gets transcendental. Orhan Pamuk More Quotes by Orhan Pamuk More Quotes From Orhan Pamuk If Turkey become a member of the EU, of course Turks would lose a part of this identity, just as Europe would lose a part of its own. It would also be a different Europe then. Accepting Turkey into the EU is an ambitious political endeavor of historical proportions. Europe would become a strong, multi-religious unit. Orhan Pamuk strong religious europe I was at the end of my tether when my first book was published. For eight years I didn't make a penny, I worked so hard, didn't drink, didn't enjoy life. Orhan Pamuk hard-work book commitment The challenge is to lend conviction even to the voices which advocate views I find personally abhorrent, whether they are political Islamists or officers justifying a coup. Orhan Pamuk political voice views I believe that it isn't victories but defeats that promote nationalism. Orhan Pamuk defeat victory believe ...a nation could change its way of life, its history, its technology, its art, literature, and culture, but it would never have a real chance to change its gestures. Orhan Pamuk technology real art When another writer in another house is not free, no writer is free. Orhan Pamuk freedom-of-speech house writing Time had not faded my memories (as I had prayed to God it might), nor had it healed my wounds as it is said always to do. I began each day with the hope that the next day would be better, my recollections a little less pointed, but I would awake to the same pain, as if a black lamp were burning eternally inside me, radiating darkness. Orhan Pamuk next-day pain memories My hero wants to belong too, but he doesn't want to give up all the things he came to value in the west. Orhan Pamuk giving-up hero want What is love?” “I don’t know.” “Love is the name given to the bond Kemal feels with Füsun whenever they travel along highways or sidewalks; visit houses, gardens, or rooms; or whenever he watches her sitting in tea gardens and restaurants, and at dinner tables.” “Hmmm … that’s a lovely answer,~ But isn’t love what you feel when you can’t see me?” “Under those circumstances, it becomes a terrible obsession, an illness. Orhan Pamuk garden names love-is The drinking of coffee is an absolute sin! Our Glorious Prophet did not partake of coffee because he knew it dulled the intellect, caused ulcers, hernia and sterility; he understood that coffee was nothing but the Devil's ruse. Orhan Pamuk devil coffee drinking My diary has its own kind of magic. It gives me the feeling of having accomplished something. On days when I don't have time for this, I feel tortured. Orhan Pamuk magic feelings giving Novels are political not because writers carry party cards -- some do, I do not -- but because good fiction is about identifying with and understanding people who are not necessarily like us. By nature all good novels are political because identifying with the other is political. At the heart of the 'art of the novel' lies the human capacity to see the world through others' eyes. Compassion is the greatest strength of the novelist. Orhan Pamuk eye lying art The secularists in Turkey haven't underestimated religion, they just made the mistake of believing they could control it with the power of the army alone. Orhan Pamuk army mistake believe It was in Cihangir that i first learned Istanbul was not an anonymous multitude of walled-in lives - a jungle of apartments where no one knew who was dead or who was celebrating what - but an archipelago of neighbourhoods in which everyone knew each other. Orhan Pamuk istanbul celebrate firsts Hüzün does not just paralyze the inhabitants of Instanbul, it also gives them poetic license to be paralyzed. Orhan Pamuk poetic-license doe giving East and West are coming together. Whether in peace or anarchy - they are coming together. There needn't be a clash between East and West, between Islam and Europe. Orhan Pamuk islam together europe What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?' Be yourself,' said Ipek. Orhan Pamuk being-yourself want said The urbanized life has lead to the destruction of the legends. Orhan Pamuk legends destruction My decision to view the world through novels, as it were, which is a typically European way of looking at things, became a heavy burden for me. But I took it on consciously, even though it was torture for me. Orhan Pamuk decision views world I identify with my culture, but I am happy to be living on a tolerant, intellectual island where I can deal with Dostoyevsky and Sartre, both great influences for me. Orhan Pamuk intellectual islands culture
