617 Quotes by Orhan Pamuk

Contrary to popular opinion, a man can shut love out if he wants to. But to do so, he must free himself not only from the woman who has bewitched him but also from the third person in the story, the ghost who has put temptation in his way.

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

Heroic dreams are the consolation of the unhappy. After all, when people like us say we’re being heroic, it usually means we’re about to kill each other – or kill ourselves.

But I think it must be easier for a girl to marry someone she doesn’t know, because the more you get to know men, the harder it is to love them.

Although everyone knew it as freedom from the laws of Islam, no one was quite sure what else westernization was good for.

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.

I was at the end of my tether when my first book was published. For eight years I didn’t make a penny, I worked so hard, didn’t drink, didn’t enjoy life.

Love is good for the skin.

Maybe you’ve understood by now that for men like myself, that is, melancholy men for whom love, agony, happiness and misery are just excuses for maintaining eternal loneliness, life offers neither great joy nor great sadness.