When societies go backwards and slide into authoritarianism, nationalism, and tribalism, machismo and sexism are also emboldened. Elif Safak More Quotes by Elif Safak More Quotes From Elif Safak Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough. Elif Safak storieslovemean Time is just an illusion. What you need is to live this very moment. That is all that matters. Elif Safak momentsmatterneeds Stop running after the waves. Let the sea come to you. Elif Safak wavesearunning Either grant me the bliss of the ignorant or give me the strength to bear the knowledge. Elif Safak ignorantbearsgiving Moments are born and moments die. For new experiences to come to life, old ones need to wither away. Elif Safak new-experiencesmomentsneeds A life without love is of no account. Don't ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western. Divisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. “Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! “The universe turns differently when fire loves water. Elif Safak simplespirituallove-you Bountiful is your life, full and complete. Or so you think, until someone comes along and makes you realize what you have been missing all this time. Like a mirror that reflects what is absent rather than present, he shows you the void in your soul—the void you have resisted seeing. That person can be a lover, a friend, or a spiritual master. Sometimes it can be a child to look after. What matters is to find the soul that will complete yours. All the prophets have given the same advice: Find the one who will be your mirror!". Elif Safak spiritualchildrenthinking Loneliness and solitude are two different things. When you are lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on the right path. Solitude is better for us, as it means being alone without feeling lonely. But eventually it is best to find a person, the person who will be your mirror. Remember, only in another person's heart can you truly see yourself and the presence of God within you. Elif Safak lonelylonelinessbelieve Do not go with the flow. Be the flow. Elif Safak fortyflow The universe is one being. Everything and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent conversation. Do no harm. Practise compassion. And do not gossip behind anyone's back - not even seemingly innocent remark! The words that come out of our mouth do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space, and they will come back to us in due time. One man's pain will hurt us all. One man's joy will make everyone smile. Elif Safak painhurtmen Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! Elif Safak being-thankfulgratitudedoors Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome. The lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full. Elif Safak moonrunningmean One night, a group of moths gathered on a shelf watching a burning candle. Puzzled by the nature of the light, they sent one of their members to go and check on it. The scouting moth circled the candle several times and came back with a description: The light was bright. Then a second moth went to examine it. He, too, came back with an observation: The light was hot. Finally a third moth volunteered to go. When he approached the candle he didn't stop like his friends had done, but flew straight into the flame. He was consumed there and then, and only he understood the nature of the light. Elif Safak flameslightnight Knowledge that takes you, not beyond yourself is far worse than ignorance. Elif Safak ignorance Even a speck of love should not go unappreciated, because, as Rumi said, love is the water of life. Elif Safak water-of-lifeshouldlove-is I hunt everywhere for a life worth living and a knowledge worth knowing. Having roots nowhere, I have everywhere to go. Elif Safak life-worth-livingknowingroots The words that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space, and they will come back to us in due time. Elif Safak infinitespacemouths I see what you mean. It must be a huge relief, and an easy way out, to think the devil is always outside of us. (…) we would stop looking for Sheitan outside and instead focus on ourselves. What we need is sincere self-examination. Not being on the watch for the faults of others.” (p. 257). Elif Safak selfmeanthinking One thing that has helped me personally in the past was to stop interfering with the people around me and getting frustrated when I couldn’t change them. Instead of intrusion and passivity, may I suggest submission? Some people make the mistake of confusing “submission” with “weakness”, whereas it is anything but. Submission is a form of peaceful acceptance of the terms of the universe, including the things we are currently unable to change or comprehend. Elif Safak acceptancemistakepast If you want to experience eternal illumination, put the past and the future out of your mind and remain within the present moment. Elif Safak illuminationmindpast
