Orhan Pamuk

“לצייר משמעו לאהוב את החיים.”

“הציור מעניק שלווה לנשמה ומוזיקה לעין.”

“אם התמונה של היותך נאהב נשארת חיה בלבך, העולם כולו הוא משכנך.”

“הגבר, תהיה אהבתו עזה ככל שתהיה, גומר תמיד בשוכחו את הפנים שאינן לפני עיניו עוד.”

“אני מתקדם בחיים כמו בין שני אורות, בין שני אזורים של צללים.”

“The habit of collecting, of attachment to things, is an essential human trait. But Western civilization put collecting on a pedestal by inventing museums. Museums are about representing power. It could be the king's power or, later, people's power.”

“'Snow' is my most popular book in the United States. But in Turkey, it was not as popular as 'My Name is Red,' or even 'The Museum of Innocence,' because the secular leaders didn't want this bourgeois Orhan trying to understand these head-scarf girls.”

“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.”

“In Europe the rich are refined enough to act as if they're not wealthy. That is how civilized people behave. If you ask me, being cultured and civilized is not about everyone being free and equal; it's about everyone being refined enough to act as if they were. Then no one has to feel guilty.”

“At the age of 60, I am less experimental and more mature. I want most of all to convey my understanding of life.”

“My fear was not the fear of God but, as in the case of the whole Turkish secular bourgeoisie, fear of the anger of those who believe in God too zealously(...) I experienced the guilt complex as something personal, originated less from the fear of distancing myself from God than from distancing myself from the sense of community shared by the entire city .”

“There's been quite a clear upswing in nationalist sentiments. Everyone is talking about it, in Turkey as well.”

“Contrary to what the West seems to think, it is not poverty that brings people like us so close to God. It's the fact that no one is more curious than we are to learn why we are here on earth and what will happen to us in the next world.”

“I need the pain of loneliness to make my imagination work.”

“Believing that Sibel was saying these things to me to make me angry, I got angry. But this is not to say that the fury owed nothing to my partial awareness that she was right.”

“ผมเคยเปิดสารานุกรมดูแล้ว คำว่า atheist มาจากคำภาษากรีกว่า athos แต่คำนี้ ไม่ได้หมายถึงคนที่ไม่เชื่อในพระเจ้า มันหมายถึงคนโดดเดี่ยว คนที่พระเจ้าละทิ้งต่างหาก เรื่องนี้พิสูจน์ว่าคนเรานั้นแท้จริงแล้วไม่สามารถเป็น atheist ได้ เพราะต่อให้อยากเป็น พระเจ้าก็จะไม่มีวันทอดทิ้งพวกเราที่นี่ ฉะนั้นการจะเป็น atheist ได้ คุณจะต้องเป็นคนตะวันตกเสียก่อน”

“The only antidote to the loneliness of the streets was the streets themselves.”

“Let us say in the pocket of one of my old coats I find a movie ticket from many years ago. Once I see the ticket, not only do I remember that I saw this movie, but also scenes from this movie, which I think I have entirely forgotten, come back to me. Objects have this power, and I like it.”

“The power of things inheres in the memories they gather up inside them, and also in the vicissitudes of our imagination, and our memory--of this there is no doubt.”

“For me, Westernization is not about consuming fanciful goods; it's about a system of free speech, democracy, egalitarianism and respect for the people's rights and dignity.”