Elif Safak Quotes
I write with humour about sadness, to introduce an element of sweet to the sour, a bit like Turkish food.
Quotes to Explore
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The historical novelist has to consider what has actually happened, while the SF writer is dealing in possibilities, but they are both in the business of imagining a world unlike our own and yet connected to it.
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When you grow up without it, you want to have it. It's funny, in America some people say, 'Why do you want to make money so much?' And I say, 'Well, I guess you didn't starve as a kid.'
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I first read Heinlein when I was very young.
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Books allow you to see the world through the eyes of others.
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I like that about London. It comes together when it needs to, and it has magic.
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The key is allowing your partner to be who they are and not having expectations that really have nothing to do with the person you married.
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I influence people, hopefully on the positive side.
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You need to have people within your own party that have the wherewithal to stand up to you.
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All Hollywood corrupts; and absolute Hollywood corrupts absolutely.
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My family was very, very receptive to all; all races, religions.
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The challenge of a cathedral is very good for architectural inventiveness.
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I played Woodstock in '69, and it really changed my life. Without a doubt, it was the single event that really changed the way I felt about music. Up to that point, I hadn't really thought of myself as more serious musician, and I didn't really have that much interest in pop music.
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The Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations all fell victim to chronically relying on Beijing's empty promises with the distant hope that China would finally use its influence to reign in Pyongyang's provocative behavior, to no avail.
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I remember praying for peace all the time as a kid.
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Any partying I did, I did at home. I didn't want to be in the spotlight... There's an easy way to get away from the paparazzi; they're not that difficult to hide from and you don't need to go out for coffee every five minutes.
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Compassion doesn't, of course, mean feeling sorry for people, or pity, which is how the word has become emasculated in a way.
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If I'm going to be 'too' anything, 'too cute' is fine. I love puppies. So what? Who hates puppies?
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ISIS is very similar to the Kharijites, who were a toxic off-shoot of Islam. It's not Islam; it's a perversion of Islam, and to label these militant externalities as Islam is to legitimize their actions.
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Books about women and children are not valued in the same way as a book about war. And why is that? I don't know.
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I have come to the conclusion that none of us in our generation feels as guilty about sin as we should or as our forefathers did.
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Once a man criticized my desire for knowledge by saying that it was not fitting for a woman to possess learning because there was so little of it. I replied that it was even less fitting for a man to possess ignorance because there was so much of it.
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When I got back to my father and mother and was sitting up there in our tepee, my face was still all puffed and my legs and arms were badly swollen; but I felt good all over and wanted to get right up and run around.
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I saw Boy George looking amazing, absolutely unbelievable, and messaged him asking for the number of his nutritionist. I got in touch with her, and she put me on this diet plan, working out which foods do and don't suit me. It's not rocket science - basically, don't eat cake, don't eat bread.
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I write with humour about sadness, to introduce an element of sweet to the sour, a bit like Turkish food.
