I have hired a bodyguard, on the recommendation of my friends and the government. It's outrageous, having to live like this.

Hüzün does not just paralyze the inhabitants of Instanbul, it also gives them poetic license to be paralyzed.

I believe that it isn't victories but defeats that promote nationalism.

In actuality, we don't look for smiles in pictures of bliss, but rather, for the happiness in life itself. Painters know this, but this is preciously what they cannot depict. That's why they substitute the joy of seeing for the joy of life.

I do not believe in a personal connection to God; that's where it gets transcendental.

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.

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