The Architect's Apprentice

by Elif Shafak

Blissful days these were – though, as too often happens with blissful days, they would be appreciated only when they were no more.

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.

‘Masters are great but books are better. He who has a library has a thousand teachers.

Little did he know, back then, that the worth of one’s faith depended not on how solid and strong it was, but on how many times one would lose it and still be able to get it back.

‘Truth is a butterfly: it lands on this flower and that. You run after it with a net. If you capture it, you are happy. But it won’t live long. Truth is a delicate thing.’