Cansu

“Because this is the other thing about immigrants ('fugees, émigrés, travellers): they cannot escape their history any more than you yourself can lose your shadow.”
― Zadie Smith, White Teeth

“I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning.”
― Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

“Die slowly

He who becomes the slave of habit,
who follows the same routes every day,
who never changes pace,
who does not risk and change the color of his clothes,
who does not speak and does not experience,
dies slowly.

He or she who shuns passion,
who prefers black on white,
dotting ones "it’s" rather than a bundle of emotions, the kind that make your eyes glimmer,
that turn a yawn into a smile,
that make the heart pound in the face of mistakes and feelings,
dies slowly.

He or she who does not turn things topsy-turvy,
who is unhappy at work,
who does not risk certainty for uncertainty,
to thus follow a dream,
those who do not forego sound advice at least once in their lives,
die slowly.

He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.

He who slowly destroys his own self-esteem,
who does not allow himself to be helped,
who spends days on end complaining about his own bad luck, about the rain that never stops,
dies slowly.

He or she who abandon a project before starting it, who fail to ask questions on subjects he doesn't know, he or she who don't reply when they are asked something they do know,
die slowly.

Let's try and avoid death in small doses,
reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.

Only a burning patience will lead
to the attainment of a splendid happiness.”
― Martha Medeiros

“Kendini birdenbire üniversitede bulmak, Selim'e dokunuyordu. "Üniversiteye girişimin hikayesi aslında daha aptalca olduğu için, bu açıklamaya şükretmelisin gene. Gerçek durum daha acıklı: lisede iyi bir öğrenci olduğum için zor bir meslek seçmeliydim. Bu nedenle mühendis olmaya mecburum. Bu açıklamayı daha çok mu beğendin ?" Bütün ümidi, Dostoyevski gibi, mühendis olduktan sonra istifa etmekti. Hangi görevden istifa edecekti? Bilmiyordu. Babasıyla her gün kavga ediyordu. Üniversiteye girişinden onu sorumlu tutuyordu. "Dağlara kaçacağım" diye bağırıyordu babasına: "Hepinize bu üniversiteyi bitirebileceğimi, hem de kırıntılarımla bitirebileceğimi göstereceğim. Siz de, onlara da göstereceğim." Kimdi onlar? Bilmiyordu. "Böyle olmama sebep olanlar," diyordu. "Her çağımda isimleri değişen ve aslında hepsi birbirinin aynı olanlar. Onlar işte!”
― Oğuz Atay, Tutunamayanlar