The Island of Missing Trees

by Elif Shafak

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.

They know, deep within, that when you save a fig tree from a storm, it is someone’s memory you are saving.

no one does optimism better than butterflies. People assume it’s a matter of personality, the difference between optimists and pessimists. But I believe it all comes down to an inability to forget. The greater your powers of retention, the slimmer your chances at optimism.

As you aged you cared less and less about what others thought of you, and only then could you be more free.

Where do you start someone’s story when every life has more than one thread and what we call birth is not the only beginning, nor is death exactly an end?

Wisdom consists of ten parts: nine parts of silence, one part of words.’

‘Liquor is the nectar of the gods.’ ‘That’s honey, n-not liquor.’ Yusuf shook his head. He was a teetotaller, the only one in this tavern. ‘Honey, milk, wine … if this diet was good enough for mighty Zeus,

for every morsel of contentment there will follow a morsel of suffering, for every peal of laughter there is a drop of tear ready to roll, because that is the way of this strange world, and hence we try not to look too happy, even on days when we might feel so inside.

on average, men who lose a spouse remarry way faster than women in the same position. Women mourn, men replace.’

‘Right, I think I said it’s possible to deduce a person’s character based on what they first notice in a tree.’ ‘Carry on.’ ‘This is not based on any scientific methodology or empirical research –’ ‘I know that! Go ahead.’ ‘What I meant was, some people stand in front of a tree and the first thing they notice is the trunk. These are the ones who prioritize order, safety, rules, continuity. Then there are those who pick out the branches before anything else. They yearn for change, a sense of freedom. And then there are those who are drawn to the roots, though concealed under the ground. They have a deep emotional attachment to their heritage, identity, traditions …’