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Top 450 Elif Shafak Quotes (2026 Update)
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Elif Shafak Quote: “Instead of intrusion or passivity, may I suggest submission? Some people make the mistake of confusing “submission” with “weakness,” whereas it is anything but. Submission is a form of peaceful acceptance of the terms of the universe, including the things we are currently unable to change or comprehend.”

151. “Instead of intrusion or passivity, may I suggest submission? Some people make the mistake of confusing “submission” with “weakness,” whereas it is anything but. Submission is a form of peaceful acceptance of the terms of the universe, including the things we are currently unable to change or comprehend.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “There’s something about love that resembles faith. It’s kind of a blind trust, isn’t it? The sweetest euphoria. The magic of connecting with a being beyond our limited, familiar selves. But if we get carried away by love- or by faith- it turns into a dogma, a fixation. The sweetness becomes sour. We suffer in the hands of gods that we ourselves created.”

152. “There’s something about love that resembles faith. It’s kind of a blind trust, isn’t it? The sweetest euphoria. The magic of connecting with a being beyond our limited, familiar selves. But if we get carried away by love- or by faith- it turns into a dogma, a fixation. The sweetness becomes sour. We suffer in the hands of gods that we ourselves created.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Life often felt unjust, but death was the biggest injustice.”

153. “Life often felt unjust, but death was the biggest injustice.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “The past is a whirlpool. If you let it dominate your present moment, it will suck you in,” said Shams as if he had read my thoughts. “Time is just an illusion. What you need is to live this very moment. That is all that matters.”

154. “The past is a whirlpool. If you let it dominate your present moment, it will suck you in,” said Shams as if he had read my thoughts. “Time is just an illusion. What you need is to live this very moment. That is all that matters.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Masters are great but books are better. He who has a library has a thousand teachers. Your Prophet said, “Seek lore, even if it be in China.” Mine said, “God created us because He wanted to be known.” Ignorant men think we are here to fight and make wars and to couple and have children. Nay, our job is to expand our knowledge.”

155. “Masters are great but books are better. He who has a library has a thousand teachers. Your Prophet said, “Seek lore, even if it be in China.” Mine said, “God created us because He wanted to be known.” Ignorant men think we are here to fight and make wars and to couple and have children. Nay, our job is to expand our knowledge.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “The dervish calmly responded, “Yes, but I know myself, and believe me, it would have been much worse if it were the other way round.” As long as I knew myself, I would be all right. Whosoever knows himself, knows the One.”

156. “The dervish calmly responded, “Yes, but I know myself, and believe me, it would have been much worse if it were the other way round.” As long as I knew myself, I would be all right. Whosoever knows himself, knows the One.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “I’d rather extinguish the fire in hell and burn heaven, so that people could start loving God for no other reason than love.”

157. “I’d rather extinguish the fire in hell and burn heaven, so that people could start loving God for no other reason than love.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “There was something inscrutable about the collective loss of reason: if enough eyes experienced the same hallucination, it turned into a truth; if enough people laughed at the same misery, it became a funny little joke.”

158. “There was something inscrutable about the collective loss of reason: if enough eyes experienced the same hallucination, it turned into a truth; if enough people laughed at the same misery, it became a funny little joke.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Maybe we give other names to grief because we are too scared to call it by its name.”

159. “Maybe we give other names to grief because we are too scared to call it by its name.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Every human being is a work in progress that is slowly but inexorably moving toward perfection. We are each an unfinished work of art both waiting and striving to be completed. God deals with each of us separately because humanity is a fine art of skilled penmanship where every single dot is equally important for the entire picture.”

160. “Every human being is a work in progress that is slowly but inexorably moving toward perfection. We are each an unfinished work of art both waiting and striving to be completed. God deals with each of us separately because humanity is a fine art of skilled penmanship where every single dot is equally important for the entire picture.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “By and large over time, pain turns into grief, grief turns into silence, and silence turns into lonesomeness, as vast and bottomless as the dark oceans.”

161. “By and large over time, pain turns into grief, grief turns into silence, and silence turns into lonesomeness, as vast and bottomless as the dark oceans.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Wisdom consists of ten parts: nine parts of silence, one part of words.”

162. “Wisdom consists of ten parts: nine parts of silence, one part of words.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within.”

163. “No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Even trees of different species show solidarity with one another regardless of their differences, which is more than you can say for so many humans.”

164. “Even trees of different species show solidarity with one another regardless of their differences, which is more than you can say for so many humans.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “There’s no such thing as a small god. Once somebody starts playing God, sooner or later, things will get out of hand.”

165. “There’s no such thing as a small god. Once somebody starts playing God, sooner or later, things will get out of hand.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Perhaps in a world bound with rules and regulations that made little sense, and usually privileged a few over the many, madness was the only true freedom.”

166. “Perhaps in a world bound with rules and regulations that made little sense, and usually privileged a few over the many, madness was the only true freedom.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “We’re all what we are. And we’re all subject to change. It is a journey from here to there.”

167. “We’re all what we are. And we’re all subject to change. It is a journey from here to there.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “On the Sufi path, first you discover the art of being alone amid the crowd. Next you discover the crowd within your solitude – the voices inside you.”

168. “On the Sufi path, first you discover the art of being alone amid the crowd. Next you discover the crowd within your solitude – the voices inside you.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “It’s easy to love a perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects. Remember, one can only know what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God’s creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God. I.”

169. “It’s easy to love a perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects. Remember, one can only know what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God’s creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God. I.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Mourning is like virginity. You should give it to the one who deserves it most.”

170. “Mourning is like virginity. You should give it to the one who deserves it most.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “You don’t share a language, you think, and then you realise, grief is a language. We understand each other, people with troubled pasts.”

171. “You don’t share a language, you think, and then you realise, grief is a language. We understand each other, people with troubled pasts.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Unlike what nationalist demagogues claim, belonging is not a once-and-for-all condition, a static identity tattooed on our skin; it is a constant self-examination and dynamic revision of where we are, who we are, and where we want to be.”

172. “Unlike what nationalist demagogues claim, belonging is not a once-and-for-all condition, a static identity tattooed on our skin; it is a constant self-examination and dynamic revision of where we are, who we are, and where we want to be.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “In many ways the twenty-first century is not that different from the thirteenth century. Both will be recorded in history as times of unprecedented religious clashes, cultural misunderstandings, and a general sense of insecurity and fear of the Other. At times like these, the need for love is greater than ever.”

173. “In many ways the twenty-first century is not that different from the thirteenth century. Both will be recorded in history as times of unprecedented religious clashes, cultural misunderstandings, and a general sense of insecurity and fear of the Other. At times like these, the need for love is greater than ever.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “How women could be expected to keep their heads down and simultaneously have their eyes open in all directions was beyond Peri.”

174. “How women could be expected to keep their heads down and simultaneously have their eyes open in all directions was beyond Peri.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Sooner or later we were destined to meet. And when we did, I would learn why his kind hazel eyes were eternally sad and how I came to be murdered on an early-spring night.”

175. “Sooner or later we were destined to meet. And when we did, I would learn why his kind hazel eyes were eternally sad and how I came to be murdered on an early-spring night.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “At night, flooded with light, Istanbul shone brighter than the eyes of a young bride.”

176. “At night, flooded with light, Istanbul shone brighter than the eyes of a young bride.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Books change us. Books save us. I know this because it happened to me.”

177. “Books change us. Books save us. I know this because it happened to me.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “But it wasn’t enough. Whatever I did, I could not rid my mind of the thought that he didn’t love me. I had no doubt that he liked me and meant me well. But this wasn’t anything even close to love. So harrowing was this thought that it was eating me up inside, gnawing at my body and soul.”

178. “But it wasn’t enough. Whatever I did, I could not rid my mind of the thought that he didn’t love me. I had no doubt that he liked me and meant me well. But this wasn’t anything even close to love. So harrowing was this thought that it was eating me up inside, gnawing at my body and soul.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Life is about perfection. Every incident that happens, no matter how colossal or small, and every hardship that we endure is an aspect of a divine plan that works to that end. Struggle is intrinsic to being human. That is why it says in the Qur’an, Certainly we will show Our ways to those who struggle on Our way. There is no such thing as coincidence in God’s scheme.”

179. “Life is about perfection. Every incident that happens, no matter how colossal or small, and every hardship that we endure is an aspect of a divine plan that works to that end. Struggle is intrinsic to being human. That is why it says in the Qur’an, Certainly we will show Our ways to those who struggle on Our way. There is no such thing as coincidence in God’s scheme.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Sometimes it is necessary to destroy all attachments in order to win over your self.”

180. “Sometimes it is necessary to destroy all attachments in order to win over your self.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Love is the bold affirmation of hope. You don’t embrace hope when death and destruction are in command. You don’t put on your best dress and tuck a flower in your hair when you are surrounded by ruins and shards. You don’t lose your heart at a time when hearts are supposed to remain sealed, especially for those who are not of your religion, not of your language, not of your blood. You don’t fall in love in Cyprus in the summer of 1974. Not here, not now. And yet there they were, the two of them.”

181. “Love is the bold affirmation of hope. You don’t embrace hope when death and destruction are in command. You don’t put on your best dress and tuck a flower in your hair when you are surrounded by ruins and shards. You don’t lose your heart at a time when hearts are supposed to remain sealed, especially for those who are not of your religion, not of your language, not of your blood. You don’t fall in love in Cyprus in the summer of 1974. Not here, not now. And yet there they were, the two of them.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Choice and confusion were conjoined twins.”

182. “Choice and confusion were conjoined twins.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome.”

183. “Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Where do you start someone’s story when life has more then one thread and what we call birth is not the only beginning, nor is death exactly an end.”

184. “Where do you start someone’s story when life has more then one thread and what we call birth is not the only beginning, nor is death exactly an end.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Is that what depression is about-the sinking feeling that your connection to God is broken and you are left to float on your own in a liquid black space, like an astronaut who has been cut loose from his spaceship and all that linked him to Earth?”

185. “Is that what depression is about-the sinking feeling that your connection to God is broken and you are left to float on your own in a liquid black space, like an astronaut who has been cut loose from his spaceship and all that linked him to Earth?”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Yet hope is a hazardous chemical capable of triggering a chain reaction in the human soul.”

186. “Yet hope is a hazardous chemical capable of triggering a chain reaction in the human soul.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Intellect and love are made of different materials,” he said. “Intellect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles and risks everything. Intellect is always cautious and advises, ‘Beware too much ecstasy,’ whereas love says, ‘Oh, never mind! Take the plunge!’ Intellect does not easily break down, whereas love can effortlessly reduce itself to rubble.”

187. “Intellect and love are made of different materials,” he said. “Intellect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but love dissolves all tangles and risks everything. Intellect is always cautious and advises, ‘Beware too much ecstasy,’ whereas love says, ‘Oh, never mind! Take the plunge!’ Intellect does not easily break down, whereas love can effortlessly reduce itself to rubble.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Was religion an empowering force for women who otherwise had limited power in a society designed for and by men, or was it yet another tool for facilitating their submission?”

188. “Was religion an empowering force for women who otherwise had limited power in a society designed for and by men, or was it yet another tool for facilitating their submission?”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Busbecq believed there were two blessings in life: books and friends. And that they should be possessed in inverse quantities: many books, but only a handful of friends.”

189. “Busbecq believed there were two blessings in life: books and friends. And that they should be possessed in inverse quantities: many books, but only a handful of friends.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Loneliness was an inseparable part of being human.”

190. “Loneliness was an inseparable part of being human.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Little did she yet understand that the end of childhood comes not when a child’s body changes with puberty, but when her mind is finally able to see her life through the eyes of an outsider.”

191. “Little did she yet understand that the end of childhood comes not when a child’s body changes with puberty, but when her mind is finally able to see her life through the eyes of an outsider.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “I cannot prevent people from destroying. All I can do is keep building.”

192. “I cannot prevent people from destroying. All I can do is keep building.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Not a very sensible thing to do, I admit, to fall for someone who is not of your kind, someone who will only complicate your life, disrupt your routine and mess with your sense of stability and rootedness. But, then again, anyone who expects love to be sensible has perhaps never loved.”

193. “Not a very sensible thing to do, I admit, to fall for someone who is not of your kind, someone who will only complicate your life, disrupt your routine and mess with your sense of stability and rootedness. But, then again, anyone who expects love to be sensible has perhaps never loved.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “We are all a little desexualized, a little defeminized. We can’t carry our bodies comfortably in a society that is so bent against women. In order to be a “brain” in the public realm, we control our “bodies.”

194. “We are all a little desexualized, a little defeminized. We can’t carry our bodies comfortably in a society that is so bent against women. In order to be a “brain” in the public realm, we control our “bodies.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “In general, one shouldn’t be too rigid about anything because “to live meant to constantly shift colours.”

195. “In general, one shouldn’t be too rigid about anything because “to live meant to constantly shift colours.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “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.”

196. “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

Elif Shafak Quote: “In resistance lies the key to life.”

197. “In resistance lies the key to life.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “You see, there are two kinds: the surface and the deep water. Now, Aphrodite emerged from foam, remember? Foam love is a nice feeling, but just as superficial. When it’s gone, it’s gone, nothing remains. Always aim for the kind of love that comes from the deep.”

198. “You see, there are two kinds: the surface and the deep water. Now, Aphrodite emerged from foam, remember? Foam love is a nice feeling, but just as superficial. When it’s gone, it’s gone, nothing remains. Always aim for the kind of love that comes from the deep.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “Some cities you go to because you want to; some cities you go to because they want you to.”

199. “Some cities you go to because you want to; some cities you go to because they want you to.”

— Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak Quote: “It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied.”

200. “It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied.”

— Elif Shafak

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