Ayşe Kulin > Quotes

“What a shame swear words aren't allowed in diplomacy.”
― Ayse Kulin

“Think carefully. We only have one life to live. We alone are responsible for it.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“After all is said and done, what is life anyway? Aren’t we all going to die in the end? I believe life is only worth living if, while we are on this earth, we can do honorable things.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“My God, she thought, where on earth can I go to save my son from such suffering? Is there any corner of the vast world where people live without tormenting each other?”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“Nereye gidersen git, kendi hikayenle baş başa kalırsın sonunda...”
― Ayşe Kulin

“For all the pain, sorrow, and violence inflicted on this magnificent world by people of different faiths for whatever misguided reason, hope springs eternal. Hope is life.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Rose of Sarajevo

“Wouldn’t we be happier, she thought, if we could rid ourselves of the old conventions or shrug off the chains binding us to our past? If we could only do that, we’d be happier, more independent.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“Tıpkı sigara gibi kötü bir alışkanlık mutsuzluk; tuhaf bir keyif veriyor tiryakisine, hayatını sinsi sinsi yiyerek, damarlarını tıkayarak öldürürken!”
― Ayşe Kulin, Dönüş

“Mahpusluk, yaşamın akmadığı, zamanın geçmediği, renklerin gözükmediği bir mekânda oturup kalmak olmalı.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Bir Gün

“Love is like a flame; it burns itself out eventually,”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“Hayatta gri renkler vardır.Hiçbir şey siyah beyaz değildir.Hele sevgiler hiç değildir.”
― Ayşe Kulin

“It’s interesting, she thought, that one isn’t scared of death from a distance, but when it is staring you in the face it feels like a merciless enemy that you desperately want to avoid.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“We’ve lived openly with our different backgrounds for years in this country. There’s never been a problem. Do you think people are going to change overnight just because a madman is taking the reins of government?” “Nobody could have predicted that reasonable Germans would stand by as their Jewish neighbors were rounded up and exterminated. But when that madman came to power, everything changed, and reasonable people did nothing to stop it. They all tried to save their own skin first and foremost.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Rose of Sarajevo

“It’s always the minorities who get targeted when nationalism boils over,”
― Ayşe Kulin, Without a Country

“Her parents were left-wing intellectuals at a time when leftists were being interrogated, arrested, and shot.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Without a Country

“You always said time was precious, and we should never be afraid to show our feelings, that there’s no place for pride in love.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Without a Country

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it,”
― Ayşe Kulin, Without a Country

“Life is too short, Selva. How often has Father told us about the value of time? Time is not to be wasted.” “If life is too short, isn’t that more reason to make the most of what we’ve got? To live the way we want to?”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“He who falls into the sea will cling even to a serpent.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“Why can’t they tell the difference between being Jewish and what the Israeli government did?” I asked Su. “Some people don’t think clearly when they’re angry,”
― Ayşe Kulin, Without a Country

“the more people became interested in science, the pursuit of knowledge, and culture, the less importance they placed on religion. He often told his daughter that most bigots or fanatics came from poor, ignorant backgrounds.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“No country is completely free of those who would prefer to keep people separate. Even in countries with the most homogenous of populations, there will always be some who feel compelled to condemn, envy, and attack others, whether for belonging to a different political party or merely for supporting a rival football club. But”
― Ayşe Kulin, Rose of Sarajevo

“Palavrayı bırak da içeri gir," dedi falcı, "sıçana dönmüşsün. Kurut kendini. Italyan'a benzemiyorsun. Macar çingenesi olmayasın."
"Tam üstüne bastın," dedi Barones Annabella, "Macar olan dedem, çingene olan da ruhumdur.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş

“Yes, religion was a many-splendored thing; surely it should be part of life and not used to separate people.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“She kept everything with nostalgic significance, and this instinct was typical of people who are always on the move.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“nations have no friends or foes; they only have their interests.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul

“Lacivert elbise giyen memurların niye birbirlerine bu kadar benzediklerini tam anlamıyla çözememişimdir; tıpkı tüm din tacirlerinin badem bıyıklan, yuvarlak yüzleri, fildırfiş gözleriyle, futbolcuların adaleli ve çarpık bacakları, sert hatlı gergin simalarıyla ya da milletvekillerinin fırça bıyıklanyla birbirlerine benzemelerini çözemediğim gibi.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Bir Gün

“It’s not the fear of death, the hunger, and the deprivation that scares me, it’s what people are capable of doing to each other when they’re at war.”
― Ayşe Kulin, Rose of Sarajevo

“Ne kadar evrak,kitap,müsvedde varsa elden ve gözden geçiriyorlarmıs.Yetmisuc yıllık yasamım hatıra defterlerınde ve mektuplarda saklı hurufatı,hıc tanımadıgım ınsanlar tarafından dıdık dıdık edılırken,anılarımın,özelımın denızınde yuzulurken,en gızlı koylarıma gırılırken,sakın olmaya,sınırlenmemeye calısıyordum. ıslerı bıtınce,evde sılah bulamayacaklarına gore,herhalde yazmıs oldugum kıtapların musveddelerıyle,Cagdas Yasama Drnegı'nın okuttugu cocukların kayıt dosyalarını alıp gıdıceklerdır.Kıtap musveddelerını atarlar,kayıtları tutarlardı,o cocukları cagdas olmayan egıtımlere aktarmak ıcın.yıne zaman kaybederdı Turkıye.Hıc degısmeyen kaderıyle,zaman kaybederdı.Olsun,kadın erkek tum ınsanlıgın aklın ve vıcdanın aydınlattıgı yolda yurumegı sececegı gun er veya gec gelecektı.Buna butun kalbımle ınanıyordum.Sabrımı ve sukunetımı bu ınanctan alıyordum.o gune kadar,basa her gelen cekılecek!Oyunun kuralı boyle!Yasam oyununun!Ne demıs saır "yasamak sakaya gelmez!”
― Ayşe Kulin, Türkan

“If life is too short, isn’t that more reason to make the most of what we’ve got? To live the way we want to?”
― Ayşe Kulin, Last Train to Istanbul