If You Want To Experience

Real Filth Is The One Inside. The Rest Simply Washes Off. There Is Only One Type Of Dirt That Cannot Be Cleansed With Pure Waters, And That Is The Stain Of Hatred And Bigotry Contaminating The Soul. You Can Purify Your Body Through Abstinence And Fasting, But Only Love Will Purify Your Heart.

I See What You Mean. It Must Be A Huge Relief, And An Easy Way Out, To Think The Devil Is Always Outside Of Us. (…) We Would Stop Looking For Sheitan Outside And Instead Focus On Ourselves. What We Need Is Sincere Self-examination. Not Being On The Watch For The Faults Of Others.” (p. 257).

We're Stuck. We're Stuck Between The East And The West. Between The Past And The Future. On The One Hand There Are The Secular Modernists, So Proud Of The Regime They Constructed, You Cannot Breathe A Critical Word. They've Got The Army And Half Of The State On Their Side. On The Other Hand There Are The Conventional Traditionalist, So Infatuated With The Ottoman Past, You Cannot Breathe A Critical Word. They've Got The General Public And The Remaining Half Of The State On Their Side.

The Iron Rule Of Prudence For An Istanbulite Woman: If You Are As Fragile As A Tea Glass, Either Find A Way To Never Encounter Burning Water And Hope To Marry An Ideal Husband Or Get Yourself Laid And Broken As Soon As Possible. Alternatively, Stop Being A Tea-glass Woman!

I Remember A Time When It Was Ok To Make Fun Of Politicians And Powerful People. Now, It's Not Ok Anymore. We've Forgotten How To Laugh.