When something explosive is kept hidden away, a tension builds within that must ultimately be released.

Ka thought it strangely depressing that the suicide girls had had to struggle to find a private moment to kill themselves. Even after swallowing their pills, even as they lay quietly dying, they’d had to share their rooms with others.

Most of the time it's not the Europeans who belittle us. What happens when we look at them is that we belittle ourselves. When we undertake the pilgrimage, it's not just to escape the tyranny at home but also to reach to the depths of our souls. The day arrives when the guilty must return to save those who could not find the courage to leave.

I certainly see myself more as a craftsman than as an artist.

The snow reminded me of the beauty and mystery of creation, of the essential joy that is life.

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.

For if a lover's face survives emblazoned on your heart, the world is still your home.