Three Daughters of Eve

by Elif Shafak

Early on she learned that there was no fight more hurtful than a family fight, and no family fight more hurtful than one over God.

Billions pray to God, “Oh give me victory, give me money, give me a Ferrari, do-this-do-that …” Same words over and over, but hardly anyone goes to the trouble to get to know Him.’

How could they be so certain of the superiority of their truths when they knew so little, if anything at all, about other cultures, other philosophies, other ways of thinking?

But her true companions were always books. Imagination was her home, her homeland, her refuge, her exile.

‘You see, there’s no such thing as benevolent dictatorship.’ ‘Why not?’ asked the architect. ‘Because there’s no such thing as a small god. Once somebody starts playing God, sooner or later, things will get out of hand.’

It is not even accurate to call this battle of words a “debate”, since the participants, irrespective of their points of view, are known to be intransigent in their positions. Where there is no possibility of change, there is no ground for a real dialogue.’

‘Only humans have consciousness. It’s the divine order. That’s why Allah holds us humans responsible for our behaviour.’

Strange it was that among the many kinds of obsession, hatred and love were only shades apart, like adjacent hues on an artist’s palate.

the three passions of Bertrand Russell: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and the unbearable compassion for the suffering of mankind.’