Orhan Pamuk quotes

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)
[N]othing is as surprising as life. Except for writing. Except for writing. Yes, of course, except for writing, the only consolation. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
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. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
In a brutal country like ours, where human life is 'cheap', it's stupid to destroy yourself for the sake of your beliefs. Beliefs? High ideas? Only people in rich countries can enjoy such luxuries. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
For if a lover's face survives emblazoned on your heart, the world is still your home. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
There's a lot of pride involved in my refusal to believe in god. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Life can't be all that bad,' i'd think from time to time. 'Whatever happens, i can always take a long walk along the Bosphorus. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
We're not stupid! We're just poor! And we have a right to insist on this distinction. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
It's such a shame that we know so little about our own country, that we can't find it in our hearts to love our own kind. Instead we admire those who show our country disrespect and betray its people. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Clocks and calendars do not exist to remind us of the Time we've forgotten but to regulate our relations with others and indeed all of society, and this is how we use them. (Orhan Pamuk)
Oscar Wilde always makes me smile - with respect and admiration. His short stories prove that it is possible to be both sarcastic, even cynical, but deeply compassionate. Just seeing the cover of one of Wilde's books in a bookshop makes me smile. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Life is short, and we should respect every moment of it. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?' Be yourself,' said Ipek. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Try to discover who I am from my choice of words and colors, as attentive people like yourselves might examine footprints to catch a thief. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Whatever anybody says, the most important thing in life is to be happy. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
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. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
She looked out the window; in her eyes was the light that you see only in children arriving at a new place, or in young people still open to new influences, still curious about the world because they have not yet been scarred by life. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Suddenly Ka realized he was in love with İpek. And realizing that this love would determine the rest of his life, he was filled with dread. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
The thing that binds us together is that we have both lowered our expectations of life. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
Life is beautiful if you are on the road to somewhere. (Orhan Pamuk)
If we give what we treasure most to a Being we love with all our hearts, if we can do that without expecting anything in return, then the world becomes a beautiful place. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
The gap between compassion and surrender is love's darkest, deepest region. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
I am nothing but a corpse now, a body at the bottom of a well. View quote
Orhan Pamuk
The real question is how much suffering we've caused our womenfolk by turning headscarves into symbols - and using women as pawns in a political game. View quote
Orhan Pamuk