عندما يدخل عاشق حقيقي لله لأي حانة، فإنها تصبح غرفة صلاته, لكن عندما يدخل شارب الخمر إلى الغرفة نفسها، فإنها تصبح خمارته. ففي كل شيء نفعله، قلوبنا هي… - Elif Şafak

ما السبب الذي يجعل الناس الغرباء تماماً أكثر تسامحاً من أقرب الناس ؟

"The world is unfair, said Meryem. "If a stone falls on an egg, it is bad for the egg; if an egg falls on a stone, it is still bad for the egg.

We're stuck. We're stuck between the East and the West. Between the past and the future. On the one hand there are the secular modernists, so proud of the regime they constructed, you cannot breathe a critical word. They've got the army and half of the state on their side. On the other hand there are the conventional traditionalist, so infatuated with the Ottoman past, you cannot breathe a critical word. They've got the general public and the remaining half of the state on their side.