“The angel is free because of his knowledge, the beast because of his ignorance. Between the two remains the son of man to struggle.”

“IGNORANCEI didn’t know love would make me thiscrazy, with my eyeslike the river Ceyhuncarrying me in its rapidsout to sea,where every bitof shattered boatsinks to the bottom.An alligator lifts its head and swallowsthe ocean, then the oceanfloor becomesa desert coveringthe alligator insand drifts.Changes dohappen. I do not know how,or what remains of whathas disappearedinto the absolute.I hear so many storiesand explanations, but I keep quiet,because I don’t know anything,and because something I swallowedin the oceanhas made me completely contentwith ignorance.”

“If in the darkness of ignorance, you don’t recognize a person’s true nature, look to see whom he has chosen for his leader.”

“When I am with you, we stay up all night.When you're not here, I can't go to sleep.Praise God for those two insomnias!And the difference between them.”

“Because I cannot sleep i make music in the night”

“They fell to, on the ground. You’ve seen a bakerrolling dough. He kneads it gently at first,then more roughly. He pounds it on the board.It softly groans under his palms.Now he spreadsit out and rolls it flat. Then he bunches it,and rolls it all the way out again,thin.Now he adds water and mixes it well.Now salt,and a little more salt. Now he shapes itdelicately to its final shape and slides itinto the oven, which is already hot.You remember breadmaking!This is how your desiretangles with a desired one.And it’s not justa metaphor for a man and a woman making love.Warriors in battle do this too.A great mutual embraceis always happening between the eternaland what dies, between essence and accident.”

“Sit, be still, and listen,because you're drunkand we're atthe edge of the roof.”