Quotessence
Home / Books / Istanbul: Memories and the City

Istanbul: Memories and the City

Book by Orhan Pamuk · 2 quotes · Istanbul, Melancholy, Nostalgia

Filter quotes by topic

AllIstanbulMelancholyNostalgiaReligionBookBooksCityCommunity Loneliness LoveFeelingsHistoryKitapKitaplarLifeLongOkulOkumakPoetsReadingSadnessSchool

Istanbul: Memories and the City Quotes

“In our household doubts more troubling than these were suffered in silence. The spiritual void I have seen in so many of Istanbul's rich, Westernised, secularist families is evident in these silences. Everyone talks openly about mathematics, success at school, football and having fun, but they grapple with the most basic questions of existence - love,compassion, religion, the meaning of life, jealousy, hatred - in trembling confusion and painful solitude. They light a cigarette, give their attention to the music on the radio, return wordlessly to their inner worlds.”

ReligionSolitudeIstanbulWesternalization
Book:Istanbul: Memories and the City
Create image

“My fear was not the fear of God but, as in the case of the whole Turkish secular bourgeoisie, fear of the anger of those who believe in God too zealously(...) I experienced the guilt complex as something personal, originated less from the fear of distancing myself from God than from distancing myself from the sense of community shared by the entire city .”

ReligionCommunity Loneliness Love
Book:Istanbul: Memories and the City
Create image