Quotes from Orhan Pamuk

Nothing makes you happy in life except love... Neither the books you write or cites you see... I am very lonely... If I say that I want to be here in this city close to you until the end of my life would you believe me?

love is deep attention, deep compassion...

Yet does illustrating in a new way signify a new way of seeing?

love that blooms this fast is just as fast to wither

the true collector's only home is his own museum.

The essential reason for my loneliness is that I don't even know where I belong.

La diferencia entre el hombre al que le gusta soñar continuamente que es Napoleón y al hombre que se cree Napoléon es la diferencia que hay entre el soñador dichoso y el esquizofrénico desdichado.

She felt herself age suddenly, but also knew what she now desired: to reconcile and grow old in peace, and have the wit to want nothing from the world.

After all, nothing can be as astounding as life. Except for writing. Yes, of course, except for writing, the sole consolation.

A city's intellect ought to be measured not by its scholars, libraries, miniaturists, calligraphers and schools, but by the number of crimes insidiously committed on its dark streets over thousands of years.

Lee poco pero con gusto, parecerás más leído que el que lo hace mucho pero aburrido.

Bazan Füsun'un hayallere dald???n? yüzünden anlar, onun hayal ettiÄŸi ülkeye gitmek ister, ama kendimi, hayat?m?, a??rl???m?, masada oturuÅŸumu çok umutsuz bulurdum.

How different from the cosy world of Rüya's detective novels, where authors never vexed a hero with more signs than he needed.

A miniaturist creates his art by heeding his conscience and by obeying the principles in which he believes, fearing nothing. he pays no attention to what his enemies, the zealots and those who envy him have to say.

Love points the way, empties you of the stuff of life, carries you at last to the mystery of creation.

Çünkü içinizde kalbinize nakÅŸeylediÄŸiniz bir sevgilinin yüzü ya??yorsa eÄŸer, dünya hala sizin evinizdir.

Marriage douses love's flame, leaving nothing but a barren and melancholy blackness. Of course, after marriage, love itself will vanish anyway; but happiness fills the void. Still, there are those hasty fools who fall in love before marrying and, burning with emotion, exhaust all their feeling, believing love to be the highest goal in life." "What, then, is the truth of the matter?" "The truth is contentment. Love and marriage are but a means to obtaining it:

Hayat?m?n en mutlu an?ym??, bilmiyordum. [...] Herkes bilsin, çok mutlu bir hayat yaÅŸad?m.

A novelist is essentially a person who covers distance through his patience, slowly, like an ant. A novelist impresses us not by his demonic and romantic vision, but by his patience.

Possono succedere tante cose nella vita, eppure si perde tempo ad aspettare.

pag.184 Love is the ability to make the invisible visible and the desire always to feel the invisible in one's midst

Painting and happiness. I would like my dear readers who have given close attention to my story and my fate to bear these two things in mind, as they are the genesis of my world.

With astonishing consistency, the people of Kültepe and Duttepe all saw the same figures in their dreams at regular intervals: Boys: the female primary-school teacher Girls: Atatürk Men: the Holy Prophet Muhammad Women: a tall, anonymous Western film star Old men: an angel drinking milk Old women: a young postman bringing good news

We passed through forests of fire, forded rivers of light and forged dark seas and mountains of snow and ice. Each crossing took us thousands of years, though it seemed no more than the blink of an eye.