Quotes from Last Train to Istanbul

“Think carefully. We only have one life to live. We alone are responsible for it.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“My God, she thought, where on earth can I go to save my son from such suffering? Is there any corner of the vast world where people live without tormenting each other?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“After all is said and done, what is life anyway? Aren’t we all going to die in the end? I believe life is only worth living if, while we are on this earth, we can do honorable things.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Love is like a flame; it burns itself out eventually,”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Wouldn’t we be happier, she thought, if we could rid ourselves of the old conventions or shrug off the chains binding us to our past? If we could only do that, we’d be happier, more independent.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“nations have no friends or foes; they only have their interests.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“All he was now was a wretched number and old, very old, even older than his father, whom he referred to as “the old man.” He was now 3,233 years old.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Yes, religion was a many-splendored thing; surely it should be part of life and not used to separate people.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“the more people became interested in science, the pursuit of knowledge, and culture, the less importance they placed on religion. He often told his daughter that most bigots or fanatics came from poor, ignorant backgrounds.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“What’s wrong with teaching English, Rafo? Is it forbidden to teach?” “No, but it is forbidden to be Jewish.” Selva”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“You never know. Maybe he was cuckolded by a Jewish beauty when he was young. Don’t they say there’s always a woman’s finger behind everything? Cherchez la femme!” Muhlis”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Women who’d lost their humanity; men who had no money, no home, and no hope.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“where on earth can I go to save my son from such suffering? Is there any corner of the vast world where people live without tormenting each other?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Sensible men have important jobs; they haven’t got a lot of spare time to spend with their wives. Only idle men have time to spend at home with their families.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“but to fight for the British, who had stirred up the Arabs against the Turks in the First World War when they had their eyes set on Musul and Kerkük, was too much to expect. At the same time, other European countries, for their own reasons, had supported various Middle Eastern tribes who were seeking independence.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“If life is too short, isn’t that more reason to make the most of what we’ve got? To live the way we want to?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“How on earth could he find the time to care for her when he was inundated with work?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“It had not had much effect, but that was beside the point. “Love is like a flame; it burns itself out eventually,” Sabiha had told Selva. “What will you do then?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“bedroom. He threw the cover, quilt, and pillows hastily on the floor, feeling the sides of the mattress until he found what he was looking for.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“The capital, Ankara, was preparing for a hot summer again. In Turkey the winters were extremely cold and snowy, and the summers were unbearably hot. It was already obvious that the approaching summer months would be hotter than hell.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“were all enjoying a lovely tea party. Selva’s classmates rehearsed”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“religion should be practiced without thought of race or color, with all its ceremonies carried out in mosques, churches, and synagogues. God was worshiped in these communities, and people reached out to him and found peace in their souls.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Life is too short, Selva. How often has Father told us about the value of time? Time is not to be wasted.” “If life is too short, isn’t that more reason to make the most of what we’ve got? To live the way we want to?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“What was all this fuss about religion? Surely, she thought, religion should be practiced without thought of race or color, with all its ceremonies carried out in mosques, churches, and synagogues.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“The Ottomans sincerely greeted us and gave us accommodation. We were free to practice our religion and to speak our own language. We were even protected from those who wanted to banish us yet again to foreign lands. Our honor and dignity were restored.” Beyazid”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“She was permanently miserable, guilty at having been the culprit; yes, she was the devil that had imposed all the pain and turmoil on her family for her own ends.”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

“Yes, religion was a many-splendored thing; surely it should be part of life and not used to separate people. Couldn’t people from different religions love one another? Oh, dearest Father, she thought, is religion worth sacrificing your daughter? Is it worth rejecting your son-in-law, just because he prays in a synagogue?”
― Ayşe Kulin, quote from Last Train to Istanbul

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“Officer Gurney ran a strip of yellow tape around the back area of the café, roping it off so no one could disturb the site. Then he scanned the crowd. His eyes lit on a comfortably plump woman wearing a red down jacket that made her look even plumper. She had a short brownish-blond ponytail that stuck out through a hole in her red baseball hat. “Brenda,” said Officer Gurney. “What do you think?” Grover was in danger of being late for school by this time. He’d already been late twice this month. If he was late again, he might get a note sent home to his parents. But he had to risk it. This was too interesting to miss. The woman stepped forward. Grover knew her, of course; everyone did. Mrs. Brenda Beeson was the one who had figured out the Prophet’s mumbled words and explained what they meant. She and her committee—the Reverend Loomis, Mayor Orville Milton, Police Chief Ralph Gurney, and a few others—were the most important people in the town. Officer Gurney raised the yellow tape so Mrs. Beeson could duck under it. She stood before the window a long time, her back to the crowd, while everyone waited to see what she would say. Clouds sailed slowly across the sun, turning everything dark and light and dark again. To Grover, it seemed like ages they all stood there, holding their breath. He resigned himself to being late for school and started thinking up creative excuses. The front door of his house had stuck and he couldn’t get it open? His father needed him to help fish drowned rats out of flooded basements? His knee had popped out of joint and stayed out for half an hour? Finally Mrs. Beeson turned to face them. “Well, it just goes to show,” she said. “We never used to have people breaking windows and stealing things. For all our hard work, we’ve still got bad eggs among us.” She gave an exasperated sigh, and her breath made a puff of fog in the chilly air. “If this is someone’s idea of fun, that person should be very, very ashamed of himself. This is no time for wild, stupid behavior.” “It’s probably kids,” said a man standing near Grover. Why did people always blame kids for things like this? As far as Grover could tell, grown-ups caused a lot more trouble in the world than kids. “On the other hand,” said Mrs. Beeson, “it could be a threat, or a warning. We’ve heard the reports about someone wandering around in the hills.” She glanced back at the bloody rag hanging in the window. “It might even be a message of some sort. It looks to me like that stain could be a letter, maybe an S, or an R.” Grover squinted at the stain on the cloth. To him it looked more like an A, or maybe even just a random blotch. “It might be a B,” said someone standing near him. “Or an H,” said someone else. Mrs. Beeson nodded. “Could be,” she said. “The S could stand for sin. Or if it’s an R it could stand for ruin. If you’ll let me have that piece of cloth, Ralph, I’ll show it to Althea and see if she has anything to say about it.” Just then Wayne Hollister happened to pass by, saw the crowd, and chimed in about what he’d seen in the night. His story frightened people even more than the blood and the broken glass. All around him, Grover heard them murmuring: Someone’s out there. He’s given us a warning. What does he mean to do? He’s trying to scare us. One woman began to cry. Hoyt McCoy, as usual, said that Brenda Beeson should not pronounce upon things until she was in full possession of the facts, which she was not, and that to him the”
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