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Elif Shafak Quotes

Total quotes: 42
“Love cannot be explained. It can only be experienced. Love cannot be explained, yet it explains all.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, True Love, Paradoxes
“Be thankful for every thorn that others might throw at you. It is a sign that you will soon be showered in roses.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Hard Times, Pain, Criticism
“Your destiny is the level where you will play your tune. You might not change your instrument but how well you play is entirely in your hands.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Destiny, Life, Fate
“If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven’t loved enough.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Friendship, Love, Transformation
“The idea that we could control the course of our lives through rational choices was as absurd as a fish trying to control the ocean in which it swam.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Control, Life, Destiny, Choices
“Just as clay needs to go through intense heat to become strong, Love can only be perfected in pain.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Pain, Change, pressure
“To stay alive, you need to fight. It's as simple as that.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Fight, Survival, Life
“Where there is love, there is bound to be heartache.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Heartbreak
“But as we both know, God never burdens us with more than we can bear.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Hard Times, Pain, God, burdens
“But treasures are hidden among ruins. A broken heart hides treasures.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Heartbreak, Treasure, Blessings In Disguise
“It was always like this. When you spoke the truth, they hated you. The more you talked about love, the more they hated you. ”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Truth, Honesty
“What we need is sincere self-examination. Not being on the watch for the fault of others.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Judgments, self-reflection
“Finally I understood that whenever people heard something unusual, they called it a dream.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Dreams, Reality, People
“His honesty offended others, but he liked to provoke people to see what came out of them in moments of anger.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Honesty, Anger, character
“To him, people who had not made their heart their primary guide to life, who could not open to love and follow its path the way a sunflower follows the sun, were not really alive.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Following Your Heart, heart, Passion
“What good could come out of a man who cannot settle down? If a man has no sense of belonging, he can drift in every direction, like a dry leaf in the wind.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: lost, Getting Lost, Belonging
“What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Patience, Hope
“Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire. The universe turns differently when fire loves water.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Soul, Fire, Water, Earth
“Every time we fall in love, we ascend to heaven. Every time we hate, envy, or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of hell.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Hate, Envy
“You can purify your body through fasting and abstinence, but only love will purify your heart.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Purity, Cleansing
“I'd rather extinguish the fire in hell and burn heaven, so that people could start loving God for no other than love.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, God, Unconditional Love
“For every thief who departs this world, a new one is born. And every decent person who passes away is replaced by a new one. In this way not only does nothing remain the same but also nothing ever really changes.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
“Life is a sequence of births and deaths. Moments are born and moments die. For new experiences to come to light, old ones need to wither away. ”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: travel, Change, Life, Moments, Experiences, Time
“Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That’s the hardest part and that’s what you are responsible for.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: The Journey, The Path, Taking Risks, First Steps
“The quest for Love changes us. There is no seeker among those who search for Love who has not matured on the way. The moment you start looking for Love, you start to change within and without.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Change, True Love
“Neither a drop of kindness nor a speck of evil will remain unreciprocated.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Karma, kindness, Evil
“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful!”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Fate, God, Destiny, Faith
“The words that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space, and they will come back to us in due time.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Karma, Words
“No matter what your destination, just be sure to make every journey a journey within.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: The Journey, The Path, Soul
“I was making the most common and the most painful mistake women have made all throughout the ages: to naively think that with their love they can change the man they love.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Change
“If you want to strengthen your faith, you will need to soften inside. For your faith to be rock solid, your heart needs to be as soft as a feather.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Softness, kindness, Love, Faith
“But you know what? Because you are so desperate to win the approval of others, you'll never get rid of their criticisms, no matter how hard you try. ”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Criticisms, Approval, Judgments, Society, People, Fear
“Loneliness and solitude are two different things. When you are lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on the right path. Solitude is better for us, as it means being alone without feeling lonely.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Loneliness, Solitude, Silence
“Your aura has lost its shine because of all the years you have convinced yourself that you are dirty inside and out.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Aura, Self-Loathe, Acceptance
“If you want to change the way others treat you, you should first change the way you treat yourself.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Self-Respect, Self-Love, Love Yourself
“The way to a man’s heart can sometimes take a woman far away from herself, my dear.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Love Is Blind
“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Love, Life, Challenges, Obstacles, Optimism, Faith, The Forty Rules Of Love, Rumi, Elif Shafak
“Do not go with the flow. Be the flow.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Change, Faith, Life
“Some people make the mistake of confusing ‘submission’ with ‘weakness,’ whereas it is anything but. Submission is a form of peaceful acceptance of the terms of the universe, including the things we are currently unable to change or comprehend.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: Weakness, Submission, Control
“You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe, because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for Him: in the heart of a true lover.”
— Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
Tagged: God, Love, Faith, Religion
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