Elif Şafak Quotes

Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come

To immigrants and exiles everywhere,
the uprooted, the re-rooted, the rootless,
And to the trees we left behind,
rooted in our memories ...

Kim olursak olalım, dünyanın hangi yerinde yaşarsak yaşayalım, ta derinlerde bir yerde hepimiz bir eksiklik duygusu taşımaktayız. Sanki temel bir şeyimizi kaybetmişiz de geri alamamaktan korkuyoruz. Neyin eksik olduğunu bilenimizde hakikaten çok az.

She was no part of anything. In her unbroken loneliness, she was complete. Never had she felt so exposed, yet si powerful.

It is because of identity politics – we are, sadly, becoming more tribal. The expectation seems to be that a writer from each tribe must tell the story of that tribe. I’m Turkish but also many other things. For me, imagination is a desire to transcend boundaries. When we write, we can be multiple.

وجود الله لا ينحصر في المسجد أو في الكنيسة. لكنك إذا أردت أن تعرف أين يقع عرشه بالتحديد، يوجد مكان واحد فقط تستطيع أن تبحث فيه عنه، وهو قلب عاشق حقيقي. فلم يعش أحد بعد رؤيته، ولم يمت أحد بعد رؤيته.
فمن يجده يبقى معه إلى الأبد.

Motherlands are castles made of glass. In order to leave them, you have to break something – a wall, a social convention, a cultural norm, a psychological barrier, a heart. What you have broken will haunt you. To be an emigré, therefore, means to forever bear shards of glass in your pockets. It is easy to forget they are there, light and minuscule as they are, and go on with your life, your little ambitions and important plans, but at the slightest contact the shards will remind you of their presence. They will cut you deep.

"ما لم نتعلّم كيف نحبّ خلق الله، فلن تستطيع أن نحبّ حقاً ولن نعرف الله حقاً".

ليس هناك ملل أكثر من قضاء امرأة شابة وذكبة وقتها كله مع طفل صغير

It crossed his mind that maybe one of the most telling differences between the young and the old lay in this detail. As you aged you cared less and less about what others thought of you, and only then could you be more free.

Destiny does not mean that your life has been strictly predetermined. Therefore, to leave everything to fate and to not actively contribute to the music of the universe is a sign of sheer ignorance. The music of the universe is all-pervading and it is composed on...different levels. Your destiny is the level where you will play your tune. You might not change your instrument but how well you play is entirely in your hands.

Noatalgia Nalan believed there were two families in this world:relatives formed blood family;and friends,the water family.If your blood family happened to be nice and caring,you could count your lucky stars and make the most of it; and if not,there was still hope; things could take a turn for the better once you are old enough to leave your home sour home.
As for the water family, this was formed much later in life and was,to a large extent,of your own making. While it was true that nothing could take the place of a loving, happy blood family, in the absence of one, a good water family could wash away the hurt and pain collected inside like black soot.It is therefore possible for your friends to have a treasured place in your heart, and occupy a bigger space than all your kin combined.But those who had never experienced what it felt like to be spurned by their own relatives would not understand this truth in a million years.They would never know that there were times when water ran thicker than blood.

We must strive to become intellectual nomads, keep moving, keep learning, resist confining ourselves in any cultural or mental ghetto, and spend more time not in select centres but at the margins, which is where real change always comes from.

- Правило номер четирийсет - каза бавно Ела. - Живот без любов не е живот. Не се питай към каква любов да се стремиш, духовна или материална, божествена или земна, източна или западна.
Започнеш ли да делиш нещата, възниква ново и ново делене. Любовта няма етикети, няма определения. Тя просто е това, което е.

Любовта е жива вода. А влюбеният е душа от огън!

Светът се върти по друг начин, когато огънят обикне водата.

Many women are asking: why do some women choose to cover their heads? We have to understand this and other questions. This is one of the biggest challenges for feminism today. What is worrying is that when women are divided into categories it is the status quo – the patriarchy – that benefits.…