Lamiya

“A map is a two-dimensional representation with arbitrary symbols and incised lines that decide who is to be our enemy and who is to be our friend, who deserves our love and who deserves our hatred and who, our sheer indifference. Cartography is another name for stories told by winners. For stories told by those who have lost, there isn’t one.”
― Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees

“carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre white man”
― Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis

“To immigrants and exiles everywhere,
the uprooted, the re-rooted, the rootless,
And to the trees we left behind,
rooted in our memories ...”
― Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees

“People assume it’s a matter of personality, the difference between optimists and pessimists. But I believe it all comes down to an inability to forget. The greater your powers of retention, the slimmer your chances at optimism.”
― Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees