I'm a relatively disciplined writer who composes the whole book before beginning to execute and write it. Of course, you can't hold - you cannot imagine a whole novel before you write it; there are limits to human memory and imagination. Lots of things come to your mind as you write a book, but again, I make a plan, chapter, know the plot.

Tell me then, does love make one a fool or do only fools fall in love?

Books, which we mistake for consolation, only add depth to our sorrow.

Actually, it's the other way round. In a poor country, the only consolation people can have is the one that comes from their beliefs.

Turks have a dismissive phrase: he works like a clerk. I have turned this insult around: I am proud to say that I work like a clerk.

Painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight.

National consciousness is truly a miraculous thing. When I am not in Turkey I feel even more Turkish than in Istanbul. But when I'm home my European side becomes more apparent.