Orhan Pamuk citations

“Toutes ces choses que j'avais apprises, auxquelles j'avais cru jusque-là, n'étaient plus que des détails dépourvus de tout intérêt, et des choses que j'ignorais surgirent des recoins où elles s'étaient terrées jusque-là et me lancèrent des signaux.”

“Le meilleur commencement pour une bonne amitié, c'est un secret.”

“J'écris parce que je ne peux supporter la réalité qu'en la modifiant.”

“Pour moi, être écrivain, c'est découvrir patiemment, au fil des années, la seconde personne, cachée, qui vit en nous, et un monde qui sécrète notre seconde vie : l'écriture m'évoque en premier lieu, non pas les romans, la poésie, la tradition littéraire, mais l'homme qui, enfermé dans une chambre, se replie sur lui-même, seul avec les mots, et jette, ce faisant, les fondations d'un nouveau monde.”

“Les mots pour nous, écrivains, sont les pierres dont nous nous bâtissons.”

“Pour moi le secret du métier d'écrivain réside non pas dans une inspiration d'origine inconnue mais dans l'obstination et la patience.”

“(…)le problème du vrai poète est toujours le même. S'il est heureux pendant une longue période, il devient ordinaire. S'il est malheureux pendant une longue période, il ne peut plus trouver en lui la force de tenir en vie sa poésie… La vraie poésie ne cohabite avece le bonheur que pour une durée très courte. Au bout d'un certain temps, soit le bonheur banalise la poésie et le poète, soit alors la vraie poésie gâche le bonheur.”

“J'écris non pas pour raconter des histoires, mais pour construire des histoires.”

“(…)la plus grande des erreurs de l'être humain, (…), la plus grosse tromperie vieille de milliers d'années réside en ceci : on a confondu être pauvre et être idiot.”

“J'écris parce que je n'arrive pas à être heureux, quoi que je fasse. J'écris pour être heureux.”

“I don't want to be a tree; I want to be its meaning.”

“How much can we ever know about the love and pain in another heart? How much can we hope to understand those who have suffered deeper anguish, greater deprivation, and more crushing disappointments than we ourselves have known?”

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

“Happiness means being close to the one you love, that's all. (Taking immediate possession is not necessary.)”

“Heaven was the place where you kept alive the dreams of your memories.”

“Let everyone know, I lived a very happy life.”

“Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.”

“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.”

“The first thing I learned at school was that some people are idiots; the second thing I learned was that some are even worse.”

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

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

“Real museums are places where Time is transformed into Space.”

“After all, a woman who doesn't love cats is never going to be make a man happy.”

“My unhappiness protects me from life.”

“Any intelligent person knows that life is a beautiful thing and that the purpose of life is to be happy," said my father as he watched the three beauties. "But it seems only idiots are ever happy. How can we explain this?”

“People only tell lies when there is something they are terribly frightened of losing.”

“As much as I live I shall not imitate them or hate myself for being different to them”

“The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion… open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.”

“When we lose people we love, we should never disturb their souls, whether living or dead. Instead. we should find consolation in an object that reminds you of them, something… I don't know… even an earring”

“In a brutal country like ours, where human life is 'cheap', it's stupid to destroy yourself for the sake of your beliefs. Beliefs? High ideas? Only people in rich countries can enjoy such luxuries.”

“What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?'

Be yourself,' said Ipek.”

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

“Try to discover who I am from my choice of words and colors, as attentive people like yourselves might examine footprints to catch a thief.”

“Whatever anybody says, the most important thing in life is to be happy.”

“Before my birth there was infinite time, and after my death, inexhaustible time. I never thought of it before: I'd been living luminously between two eternities of darkness.”

“There's a lot of pride involved in my refusal to believe in god.”

“[N]othing is as surprising as life. Except for writing. Except for writing. Yes, of course, except for writing, the only consolation.”

“Life can't be all that bad,' i'd think from time to time. 'Whatever happens, i can always take a long walk along the Bosphorus.”

“As always after drinking too much, I felt like my own ghost trying to take it's first solo walk outside the body.”