My Name is Red

by Orhan Pamuk

Before my birth there was infinite time, and after my death, inexhaustible time.

Only imbeciles are innocent.

Over time, jealousy becomes an element as indispensable as paint in the life of the master artist.

To avoid disappointment in art, one mustn’t treat it as a career. Despite whatever great artistic sense and talent a man might possess, he ought to seek money and power elsewhere to avoid forsaking his art when he fails to receive proper compensation for his gifts and efforts.

For if a lover’s face survives emblazoned on your heart, the world is still your home.

Many people sin out of their own blind ambition, lust, lack of willpower, baseness, and most often, out of their own idiocy without any instigation, deception or temptation on my part.