But let us not forget that cities are like human beings. They are born, they go through childhood and adolescence, they grow old, and eventually they die
Elif SafakRead
I like to question cultural biases wherever I go, and I question Islamophobia as much as I question anti-western sentiment because I think all extremist ideologies are very similar.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of questioning biases and ideologies, regardless of their origin.
Elif Safak's quote highlights the necessity of critically examining cultural biases, including both Islamophobia and anti-western sentiments. By suggesting that all extremist ideologies share similarities, she encourages a reflective approach to understanding cultural prejudices, advocating for a balanced perspective that transcends simplistic distinctions between the 'us' and 'them'.
Themes
BiasIdeologyExtremismQuestioningCulturalSentiment
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on cultural diversity, I mentioned this quote to illustrate the importance of questioning biases.
More from Elif Safak
All quotes →Stories cannot demolish frontiers, but they can punch holes in our mental walls, and through those holes we can get a glimpse of the other and sometimes even like what we see.
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What i’m saying is, my friends, one ought to be able to let go. If a path does not please us, instead of insisting on going that specific way, of making our selfishness the guide, we ought to forsake. The books we cannot write, the films we cannot shoot, the projects we cannot develop, the jobs we cannot pursue and the people who no longer love us. Being able to let go, at times, is the most beautiful of all!
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For me, writing stories is one way of feeling connected to the universe and God.
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I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a scary, chaotic process over which I have little control. Words demand other words, characters resist me.
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I like to borrow a metaphor from the great poet and mystic Rumi who talks about living like a drawing compass. One leg of the compass is static. It is fixed and rooted in a certain spot. Meanwhile, the other leg draws a huge wide circle around the first one, constantly moving. Just like that, one part of my writing is based in Istanbul. It has strong local roots. Yet at the same time the other part travels the whole wide world, feeling connected to several cities, cultures, and peoples.
Elif SafakRead
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