Top quotes by Khaled Hosseini

In Afghan society, parents play a central role in the lives of their children; the parent-child relationship is fundamental to who you are and what you become and how you perceive yourself, and it is laden with contradictions, with tension, with anger, with love, with loathing, with angst. Votes: 29

I remember reading 'The Grapes of Wrath' in high school in 1983. My family had immigrated to the U.S. three years before, and I had spent the better part of the first two years learning English. John Steinbeck's book was the first book I read in English where I had an 'Aha!' moment, namely in the famed turtle chapter. Votes: 24

I spent a lot of winters in my childhood flying kites with my brother, with my cousins, with friends in the neighborhood. It's what we did in the winter. Schools close down. There was not much to do. Votes: 24

In Afghanistan, you don't understand yourself solely as an individual. You understand yourself as a son, a brother, a cousin to somebody, an uncle to somebody. You are part of something bigger than yourself. Votes: 22

I will say that there is an inordinate amount of medicine in my novels, especially the first one. There are a lot of medical things that happen. A hip fracture, three different kinds of lung cancer, pneumonia, blood poisoning, and so on. Votes: 20

My books are about ordinary people, like you, me, people on the street, people who really have an expectation of reasonable happiness in life, want their life to have a sense of security and predictability, who want to belong to something bigger than them, who want love and affection in their life, who want a good future for the children. Votes: 19

Life just doesn't care about our aspirations, or sadness. It's often random, and it's often stupid and it's often completely unexpected, and the closures and the epiphanies and revelations we end up receiving from life, begrudgingly, rarely turn out to be the ones we thought. Votes: 17

American high school culture was impenetrable to me, and very cliquey: you had the Hispanics, the African Americans, the surfer guys and the goths and the immigrants. The jocks and the surfers got the girls. By the time I'd got to grips with it, I'd graduated. Votes: 16

The difficulty of writing a second novel is directly proportional to how successful the first novel was, it seems. Votes: 14

The experience of writing 'The Kite Runner' is one I will always think back on with fondness. There is an energy, a romance in writing the first novel that can never be duplicated again. Votes: 14

I'm a pretty uncomplicated person. I live a very simple life with my family and I enjoy very ordinary things. Votes: 12

Nothing happens in a vacuum in life: every action has a series of consequences, and sometimes it takes a long time to fully understand the consequences of our actions. Votes: 11

My books are love stories at core, really. But I am interested in manifestations of love beyond the traditional romantic notion. In fact, I seem not particularly inclined to write romantic love as a narrative motive or as an easy source of happiness for my characters. Votes: 10

I lay no claim, it should be clear, to being a historian. So in my books, the intimate and personal have been intertwined inextricably with the broad and historical. Votes: 10

I find myself drawn to that period where children are about to leave childhood behind. When you're 12 years old, you still have one foot in childhood; the other is poised to enter a completely new stage of life. Your innocent understanding of the world moves towards something messier and more complicated, and once it does you can never go back. Votes: 10

People find meaning and redemption in the most unusual human connections. Votes: 10

My memories of Kabul are vastly different than the way it is when I go there now. My memories are of the final years before everything changed. When I grew up in Kabul, it couldn't be mistaken for Beirut or Tehran, as it was still in a country that's essentially religious and conservative, but it was suprisingly progressive and liberal. Votes: 9

I grew up in a society with a very ancient and strong oral storytelling tradition. I was told stories, as a child, by my grandmother, and my father as well. Votes: 9

The bewildering success of my books continues to surprise me. Votes: 9

It's a very nice kind of quasi-fame being a writer, because you remain largely anonymous and you can have a private life, which I really cherish. I don't like to be in the public light all that much. I don't crave the whole fame thing at all. Votes: 8

I was good at being a doctor; my patients liked me. At times people trust you with things they wouldn't tell their spouses. It was a real privilege. Votes: 8

Everyone is an ocean inside. Every individual walking the street. Everyone is a universe of thoughts, and insights, and feelings. But every person is crippled in his or her own way by our inability to truly present ourselves to the world. Votes: 8

Afghan women, as a group, I think their suffering has been equaled by very few other groups in recent world history. Votes: 7

I entered the literary world, really, from outside. My entire background has been in sciences; I was a biology major in college, then went to medical school. I've never had any formal training in writing. Votes: 5

I give novels as gifts, and there is nothing I like to receive more as a gift. Votes: 5

Reading is an active, imaginative act; it takes work. Votes: 4

Ultimately, my books are not about the politics, although the toil and the struggle and the wars in Afghanistan have a significant impact on the lives of my characters. Votes: 4

War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace. - Baba Votes: 4

I am always revolted when Islamic leaders, from Afghanistan or elsewhere, deny the very existence of female oppression, avoid the issue by pointing to examples of what they view as Western mistreatment of women, or even worse, justify the oppression of women on the basis of notions derived from Sharia law. Votes: 3

He scarcely knew who was battling whom, who was winning, who was losing, as though he hoped that by doggedly ignoring the war it would return the favor Votes: 1

With snow came the kites, once the rulers of Kabul's winter skies, now timid trespassers in territory claimed by streaking rockets and fighter jets. Votes: 0

Kabul fell prey to men who looked like they had tumbled out of their mothers with Kalashnikov in hand Votes: 0

Nothing good came free. Even love. You paid for all things. And if you were poor, suffering was your currency. Votes: 0

Marriage can wait, education cannot. Votes: 0

But the fact is, I looked at my life and realized I already had what people sought in marriage. Votes: 0

War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace." - Baba" Votes: 0

It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime..." Votes: 0

She would never leave her mark on Mammy's heart the way her brothers had, because Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed." Votes: 0

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls." Votes: 0

I didn't remember what month that was, or what year even. I only knew the memory lived in me, a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past, a brushstroke of color on the gray, barren canvas that our lives had become." Votes: 0

And that, ...is the story of our country, one invasion after another...Macedonians. Saddanians. Arabs. Mongols. Now the Soviets. But we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing." Votes: 0

Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. Votes: 0

In many parts of the world, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. But I think we need women to solve the problems that men create. Votes: 0

There was brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that even time could not break. - Amir Votes: 0

And this is what I want you to understand, that good, real good, was born out of your father's remorse. Sometimes, I thing everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good. Votes: 0

Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. - Amir Votes: 0

it is a heartBreaking sound, Amir Jan, the Wailing of a mother. I pray to Allah you Never hear it. Votes: 0

I may not agree with all or even most of the tribal traditions, but it seems ti me that, out there, people live more authentic lives. They have a sturdiness about them. A refreshing humility. Hospitality too. And resilience. A sense of pride. Votes: 0

I've read that if an avalanche buries you and you're lying there underneath all that snow, you can't tell which way is up or down. You want to dig yourself out but pick the wrong way, and you dig yourself to your own demise. Votes: 0

War doesn't negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace." - Baba Votes: 0

Baba dropped the stack of food stamps on her desk. "Thank you but I don't want," Baba said. "I work always. In Afghanistan I work, in America I work. Thank you very much, Mrs. Dobbins, but I don't like it free money."...Baba walked out of the welfare office like a man cured of a tumor. Votes: 0

He is annoyed with their lack of interest, their blithe ignorance of the arbitrary genetic lottery that has granted them their privileged lives. Votes: 0

If I ever do get married," Tariq said, "they'll have to make room for three on the wedding stage. Me, the bride, and the guy holding the gun to my head Votes: 0

A sudden happiness catches me unawares. I feel it trickling into me, and my eyes go liquid with gratitude and hope. Votes: 0

It's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Votes: 0

I'm sorry," Laila says, marveling at how every Afghan story is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief. And yet, she sees, people find a way to survive, to go on. Votes: 0

The Taliban's acts of cultural vandalism - the most infamous being the destruction of the giant Bamiyan Buddhas - had a devastating effect on Afghan culture and the artistic scene. The Taliban burned countless films, VCRs, music tapes, books, and paintings. They jailed filmmakers, musicians, painters, and sculptors. Votes: 0

I have a particular disdain for Islamic extremism, and of course, in both 'The Kite Runner' and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' that's obvious. Votes: 0

She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, 'why?,' and she said, 'Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you. Votes: 0

The warlords took part in atrocities during the civil war in Afghanistan. They looted, they raped, they killed. They have become incredibly empowered and entrenched. They live in mansions, they have jobs in the government, and they're incredibly powerful. In Kabul, people don't want to speak about it too publicly, because these people are essentially like Tony Soprano. Votes: 0

I have a theory about marriage, Monsieur Boustouler. And it's that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it's going to work. It's astonishing how many people remain shackled for years, decades even, in a protracted and mutual state of self-delusion and false hope when in fact they had their answer in those first two weeks. Votes: 0

I foresaw my life unfolding as an interminable stretch of nothingness and so I spent my years on Tinos floundering, feeling like a stand-in for myself, a proxy, as though my real self resided elsewhere, waiting to unite someday with this dimmer, more hollow self. I felt marooned. An exile in my own home Votes: 0

She thought of Aziza's stutter, and of what Aziza had said earlier about fractures and powerful collisions deep down and how sometimes all we see on the surface is a slight tremor. Votes: 0

She is furious with herself for her own stupidity. Opening herself up like this, voluntarily, to a lifetime of worry and anguish. It was madness. Sheer lunacy. A spectacularly foolish and baseless faith, against enormous odds, that a world you do not control will not take from you the one thing you cannot bear to lose. Faith that the world will not destroy you. Votes: 0

All good things in life are fragile and easily lost Votes: 0

And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too. Votes: 0

We stayed huddled that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born... Votes: 0

He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. ''For you a thousand times over!'' he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner. Votes: 0

Hassan couldn't read a first-grade textbook but he'd read me plenty. That was a little unsettling but also sort of comfortable to have someone who always knew what you needed. Votes: 0

Hassan and I looked at each other. Cracked up. The Hindi kid would soon learn what the British learned earlier in the century, and what the Russians would eventually learn by the late 1980's: that Afghans are an independent people. Afghans cherish customs but abhor rules. And so it was with kite fighting. The rules were simple: No rules. Fly your kite. Cut the opponents. Good luck. Votes: 0

hills that stand soft and a sky that stands high and blue, and the sun setting behind a windmill, and always, always, hazy strings of mountains that fall and fall away on the horizon. Votes: 0

After all, life is not a Hindi movie. Votes: 0

I learned that the world didn't see the inside of you, that it didn't care a whit about the hopes and dreams, and sorrows, that lay masked by skin and bone. It was as simple, as absurd, and as cruel as that. Votes: 0

Don't be afraid to tell the truth. It's better to hurt someone by truth than to make them happy by lies. Votes: 0

I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us. Votes: 0

Afghanistan has always been sort of a fractured nation, very tribal, where the countryside and the distant provinces have been run by custom, by tribal law and by tribal leaders rather than edicts from the central government in Kabul. Votes: 0

Kabul was very popular with the hippies in the Sixties and Seventies. It was very quiet and peaceful. Votes: 0

In Kabul, hot running water had been like fathers, a rare commodity. Votes: 0

Kabul is... a thousand tragedies per square mile. Votes: 0

Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Votes: 0

She passed these years in a distant corner of her mind. A dry, barren field, out beyond wish and lament, beyond dream and disillusionment. There, the future did not matter. And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and it accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. Votes: 0

If America taught me anything, it's that quitting is right up there with pissing in the Girl Scouts' lemonade jar. Votes: 0

A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed. It won't stretch to make room for you. Votes: 0

Men are easy,' he said, fingers tapping on his mahogany desk. 'A man's plumbing is like his mind: simple, very few surprises. You ladies, on the other hand...well, God put a lot of thought into making you. Votes: 0

I don't know the nuts and bolts of writing. I studied medicine. I was a pre-med nerd. So everything I learned, I know about writing is very instinctive. Votes: 0

Human behavior is messy and unpredictable and unconcerned with convenient symmetries. Votes: 0

And that, ...is the story of our country, one invasion after another...Macedonians. Saddanians. Arabs. Mongols. Now the Soviets. But we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing. Votes: 0

There isn't, even now, a great tradition of novel-writing in Afghanistan. Most of the literature is in the form of poetry. Votes: 0

I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night. Votes: 0

Without women taking an active role in Afghan society, rebuilding Afghanistan is going to be very difficult. Votes: 0

Writing for me is largely about rewriting. Votes: 0

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls. Votes: 0

Joseph shall return to Canaan, grieve not, Hovels shall turn to rose gardens, grieve not. If a flood should arrive, to drown all that's alive, Noah is your guide in the typhoon's eye, grieve not. Votes: 0

Um zu schreien, musst du atmen. Votes: 0

He had a frozen, wide-eyed look to his face, I remember, the way some old people do, like they are perpetually startled by the monstrous surprise that is old age. Votes: 0

She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. Votes: 0

They rarely look at Baba -- the teenagers -- and then only with cold indifference, or even subtle disdain, as if my father should have known better than to allow old age and decay to happen to him. Votes: 0

You're gutless. It's how you were made. And that's not such a bad thing because your saving grace is that you've never lied to yourself about it. Not about that. Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him. Votes: 0

you say you have no courage, but i see it in you. what you did, the burden you agreed to shoulder, took courage. for that, i honor you. Votes: 0

Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie. Votes: 0

she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back.She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. Votes: 0

I have met so many people who say they've got a book in them, but they've never written a word. To be a writer - this may seem trite, I realize - you have to actually write. Votes: 0

Perspective [is] a luxury when your head [is] constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons. Votes: 0

James Parkinson. George Huntington. Robert Graves. John Down. Now this Lou Gehrig fellow of mine. How did men come to monopolize disease names too? Votes: 0

Whatever the readers feel when they're reading my books, I feel it tenfold when I'm writing it. Votes: 0

Kabul fell prey to men who looked like they had tumbled out of their mothers with Kalashnikov in hand... Votes: 0

A part of me was hoping someone would wake up and hear, so I wouldn't have to live with this lie anymore. But no one woke up and in the silence that followed, I understood the nature of my new curse: I was going to get away with it. Votes: 0

Your job today is to pass gas. You do that and we can start feeding you liquids. No fart, no food. Votes: 0

What began with exuberance and passion always ended with terse accusations and hateful words, with rage and weeping fits. Votes: 0

When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. Votes: 0

and yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had love and been loved back. she was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. a mother. a person of consequence at last. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth. Votes: 0

The problem, of course, was that [he] saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can't love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little. Votes: 0

And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the parched land of that field, Mariam uprooted them. She uprooted them and ditched them before they took hold. Votes: 0

I will follow you to the ends of the world. Votes: 0

She wished she could visit Mariam's grave, to sit with her awhile, leave a flower or two. But she sees now that it doesn't matter. Mariam is never very far.... Mariam is in her own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns. Votes: 0

I know that in the end, God will forgive me. He will forgive your father, me, and you too. I hope you can do the same. Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most important, forgive yourself. Votes: 0

And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. Votes: 0

Years later, I learned an English word for the creature that Assef was, a word for which a good Farsi equivalent does not exist: sociopath. Votes: 0

I want to tear myself from this place, from this reality, rise up like a cloud and float away, melt into this humid summer night and dissolve somewhere far, over the hills. But I am here, my legs blocks of concrete, my lungs empty of air, my throat burning. There will be no floating away. Votes: 0

Attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun. Votes: 0

The Chinese say it's better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one. Votes: 0

Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Votes: 0

There is only one sin. and that is theft... when you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth. Votes: 0

For me as a writer, the story has always taken precedence over everything else. I have never sat down to write with broad, sweeping ideas in mind, and certainly never with a specific agenda. Votes: 0

Boys, Laila came to see, treated friendship the way they treated the sun: its existence undisputed; its radiance best enjoyed, not beheld directly. Votes: 0

A society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated... Votes: 0

It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime... Votes: 0

Her eyes, walnut brown and shaded by fanned lashes, met mine. Held for a moment. Flew away. Votes: 0

Soon, he would become an adult. And when he did, there would be not going back because adulthood was akin to what his father had once said about being a war hero: one you became one, you died one. Votes: 0

I have this almost pathological fear of boring the reader. Votes: 0

You changed the subject." "From what?" "The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy." "You know." "Know what?" "That I only have eyes for you. Votes: 0

Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors. Votes: 0

When I go to Afghanistan, I realize I've been spared, due to a random genetic lottery, by being born to people who had the means to get out. Every time I go to Afghanistan I am haunted by that. Votes: 0

I think the emancipation of women in Afghanistan has to come from inside, through Afghans themselves, gradually, over time. Votes: 0

I don't think she is underappreciated, certainly not among writers, but Alice Munro is the classic underappreciated writer among readers. It is almost a cliche now to wonder why this living legend is not more widely read. Votes: 0

Economic chasm between people is something that is of interest to me. And something that I used to write about even as a child. It's something I've revisited a few times in my writings. Votes: 0

I've been told, and I think I recognize it, that there's a cinematic quality to my writing, with a sense of image and place and scene - and, some would say, my tendency to finish my books the way Hollywood finishes its films. Votes: 0

Literary fiction is kept alive by women. Women read more fiction, period. Votes: 0

I read actual physical books and have thus far avoided the electronic lure. Votes: 0

The only two places where I can read for long stretches are in airplanes and in bed at nighttime. Votes: 0

All stories I write are compulsive. Anything I've ever written was because I don't have a choice. I write stories because I can't wait to tell it, I can't wait to see how it ends. Votes: 0

You write because you have an idea in your mind that feels so genuine, so important, so true. And yet, by the time this idea passes through the different filters of your mind, and into your hand, and onto the page or computer screen - it becomes distorted, and it's been diminished. Votes: 0

I don't listen to music when I write - I find it distracting. Votes: 0

A Western-style democracy in Afghanistan is a dream. I don't see that as a reality anytime soon. But I think some form of representative political process is not that far-fetched. Votes: 0

I don't outline at all; I don't find it useful, and I don't like the way it boxes me in. I like the element of surprise and spontaneity, of letting the story find its own way. Votes: 0

Usually in films, when Muslims pray, it's either before or after they've blown something up. Votes: 0

My wife is my in-home editor and reads everything I write. Votes: 0

I think that to fully appreciate baseball, it helps to have been born in the U.S. Votes: 0

[Barack Obama] is sending more troops [to Afghanistan], but they have also realized that we are not going to win that war through guns and tanks. We have to engage the neighbors, and it is good that there is a non-military strategy in addition to a military strategy. It is, at least, encouraging. Whether it will work or not, the jury is still put. Votes: 0

[Flying kite with my friends] is one of the seminal memories of growing up for me. Votes: 0

[Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns] is not just unique to books, but films and music. Votes: 0

A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything. Votes: 0

A great deal remains to be done in Afghanistan and the jury is out as to whether the international community has the commitment and the patience to see the rebuilding process through. Votes: 0

A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer. Votes: 0

A pathetic shadow, torn between her envy and thrill of being seen with Masomma, sharing in the attention as a weed would, lapping up water meant for the lily upstream. Votes: 0

A story is like a moving train: no matter where you hop onboard, you are bound to reach your destination sooner or later. Votes: 0

A stubborn ass needs a stubborn driver Votes: 0

‎I know you're still young but I want you to understand and learn this now. Marriage can wait, education cannot. You're a very very bright girl. Truly you are. You can be anything you want Laila. I know this about you. And I also know that when this war is over Afghanistan is going to need you as much as its men maybe even more. Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated Laila. No chance. Votes: 0

about clichés. Avoid them like the plague. Votes: 0

Afghanistan is a rural nation, where 85 percent of people live in the countryside. And out there it's very, very conservative, very tribal - almost medieval. Votes: 0

After everything he'd built, planned, fought for, fretted over, dreamed of, this was the summation of his life; one disappointing son and two suitcases. Votes: 0

Air grew heavy, damp, almost solid. I was breathing bricks. Votes: 0

All my life, I'd been around men. That night, I discovered the tenderness of a woman. Votes: 0

All my life, she gave to me a shovel and said, Fill these holes inside of me, Pari. Votes: 0

America was different. America was a river, roarng along, unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins. Votes: 0

and every day I thank [God] that I am alive, not because I fear death, but because my wife has a husband and my son is not an orphan. Votes: 0

And one more thing...You will never again refer to him as 'Hazara boy' in my presence. He has a name and it's Sohrab. Votes: 0

And suddenly, just like that, hope became knowledge. I was going to win. It was just a matter of when. Votes: 0

As far as I know, he never asked where she had been or why she had left and she never told. I guess some stories do not need telling. Votes: 0

At last, she makes her choice. She turns around, drops her head, and walks toward a horizon she cannot see. After that, she does not look back anymore. She knows that if she does, she will weaken. Votes: 0

At least, it is encouraging to me that President [Barack] Obama has put Afghanistan front and center in this broader so-called War on terror, and that he is taking a different approach to Afghanistan. Votes: 0

At that moment, she cannot think of a more reckless, irrational thing than choosing to become a parent. Votes: 0

At the door , she made him promise to go without goodbyes .She closed the door on him . Laila leaned her back against it , shaking against his pounding fists , one arm gripping her belly and a hand across her mouth , as he spoke throughout the door and promised that he would come back for her . She stood there until he tired , until he gave up , and then she listened to his uneven footsteps until they faded , until all was quiet , save for the gunfire cracking in the hills and her own heart thudding in her belly , her eyes , her bones . Votes: 0

At the time we are focusing our efforts primarily on building shelters for refugees. Homelessness in Afghanistan is a huge problem. Votes: 0

At times , he didn't understand the meaning of the Koran's words . But he said he liked the enhancing sounds the arabic words made as they rolled off his tongue . He said they comforted him , eased his heart . "They'll comfort you too . Mrariam jo , " he said . "You can summon then in your time of your need , and they won't fail you . God's words will never betray you , my girl . (pg.17) Votes: 0

Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly. Votes: 0

Behind every trial and sorrow that He makes us shoulder, God has a reason. Votes: 0

Blood is a powerful thing Votes: 0

But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie. Votes: 0

But if you have a book that needs urgent reading,' she said, 'then Hakim is your man. Votes: 0

But it is important to know this, to know your roots. To know where you started as a person. If not, your own life seems unreal to you. Like a puzzle. Vous comprenez? Like you have missed the beginning of a story and now you are in the middle of it, trying to understand. Votes: 0

But Laila has decided that she will not be crippled by resentment. Mariam wouldn’t want it that way. ‘What’s the sense?’ she would say with a smile both innocent and wise. ‘What good is it, Laila jo?’ And so Laila has resigned herself to moving on. For her own sake, for Tariq’s, for her children’s. And for Mariam, who still visits Laila in her dreams, who is never more than a breath or two below her consciousness. Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope. Votes: 0

But the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her Votes: 0

But then it passed, as all things do. Votes: 0

But time, it is like charm. You never have as much as you think. Votes: 0

By then The Kite Runner had become quite successful and I found myself in a position that I had always dreamed of my whole life, which was to write for a living. Votes: 0

Creating means vandalizing the lives of other people, turning them into unwilling and unwitting participants. You steal their desires, their dreams, pocket their flaws, their suffering. You take what does not belong to you. You do this knowingly. Votes: 0

Dr. Bashiri, if I ever want to put a curse in someone, I say, 'May God give you a restaurant. Votes: 0

Educate yourself, learn about what refugees face when they don't have homes, after they have lost everything. Votes: 0

Equally important is the lack of cultivable land for farmers, a profound problem when you take into account that Afghanistan has always largely been an agricultural country, and that even before the wars destroyed lands and irrigation canals, only 5 per cent of the land was cultivable. Votes: 0

Every woman needed a husband, even if he did silence the song in her. Votes: 0

Fabio Celon did send me pages as he progressed, both in black and white and some color samples as well. It was really exciting to see the sketches and to see the story [The Kite Runner] shaping up visually. Votes: 0

For a novelist, it's kind of an onerous burden to represent an entire culture. Votes: 0

For courage, there must be something at stake. I come here with nothing to lose. Votes: 0

For many people in the west, Afghanistan is synonymous with the Soviet war and the Taliban. I wanted to remind people that Afghans had managed to live in peaceful anonymity for decades, that the history of the Afghans in the twentieth century has been largely pacific and harmonious. Votes: 0

For you, a thousand times over Votes: 0

Give sustenance, Allah. Give sustenance to me. Votes: 0

Gone. Vanished. Nothing left. Nothing said. Votes: 0

Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name. Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975 —and all that followed— was already laid in those first words. Votes: 0

He had the blue kite in his hands; that was the first thing I saw. And I can't lie now and say my eyes didn't scan it for any rips. Votes: 0

He knew I'd seen everything in that alley, that I'd stood there and done nothing. He knew that I'd betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. Votes: 0

He said that if culture is a house, then language was the key to the front door; to all the rooms inside. Without it, he said, you ended up wayward, without a proper home or a legitimate identity. Votes: 0

Her beauty was the talk of the valley.It skipped two generations of women in our family, but it sure didn't bypass you, Laila. Votes: 0

Her impulse, her need, to be the corrector of injustices, warden of the downtrodden flock. And Votes: 0

How many more people right now feel connected to Mumbai because of Slumdog Millionaire, or suddenly are interested in the plight of orphans on Mumbai after seeing that film? The same thing with the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Votes: 0

I also felt The Kite Runner was a story that would lend itself well to a visual retelling in a graphic novel. Votes: 0

I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years. Votes: 0

I believe Fabio Celoni's work vividly brings to life not only the mountains, the bazaars, the city of Kabul and its kite-dotted skies, but also the many struggles, conflicts, and emotional highs and lows of Amir's journey [from the The Kite Runner ] . Votes: 0

I brought Hassan’s son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty Votes: 0

I came from an educated, upper middle-class family. My mother was a Persian and history teacher at a large high school for girls. Many of the women in my extended family and in our circle of friends were professionals. In those days, women were a vital part of the economy in Kabul. They worked as lawyers, physicians, college professors, etc., which makes the tragedy of how they were treated by the Taliban that much more painful. Votes: 0

I came to the US as an immigrant and I recall vividly those first few years in California, the brief time we spent on welfare, and the difficult task of assimilating into a new culture. Votes: 0

I did see [in Afghanistan] plenty that reminded me of my childhood. I recognised my old neighbourhood, saw my old school, streets where I had played with my brother and cousins. Votes: 0

I didn't remember what month that was, or what year even. I only knew the memory lived in me, a perfectly encapsulated morsel of a good past, a brushstroke of color on the gray, barren canvas that our lives had become. Votes: 0

I don't know what this feather means, the story of it, but I know it means he was thinking of me. For all these years. He remembered me. Votes: 0

I don't know whom or what he was defying. [...] [M]aybe the God he had never believed in. Votes: 0

I entered the literary world, really, from outside. My entire background has been in sciences; I was a biology major in college, then went to medical school. I've never had any formal training in writing. So what I know about writing, I know from my own instincts, and whatever the narrative voice is in my own head. Votes: 0

I experienced Kabul with my brother the way Amir and Hassan do: long school days in the summer, kite fighting in the winter time, westerns with John Wayne at Cinema Park, big parties at our house in Wazir Akbar Khan, picnics in Paghman. Votes: 0

I feel like we [americans] are a unique nation in this world, in that we are able to implement great change in our society over a relatively short period of time. What takes centuries in Europe, we accomplish in a generation. Votes: 0

I finally had what I'd wantes all those years. Except now that I had it, i felt as empty as this unkempt pool I was dangling my legs into. Votes: 0

I found a sad little fairy Beneath the shade of a paper tree. I know a sad little fairy Who was blown away by the wind one night. Votes: 0

I found myself sitting at the computer, and I thought I was going to write a kind of simple nostalgic story about two boys and their love of kite fighting. But stories have a will of their own, and this one turned out to be this dark tale about betrayal, loss, regret. The short story which was about 25 pages long sat around for a couple of years. Votes: 0

I get daily e-mails from Afghans who thank me for writing this book [The Kite Runner], as they feel a slice of their story has been told by one of their own. So, for the most part, I have been overwhelmed with the kindness of my fellow Afghans. Votes: 0

I grew up with some kind of storytelling instinct, and when I write, my default setting is to find a story and then to tell it. It's the only way I know how to write. Votes: 0

I guess some stories do not need telling. Votes: 0

I have been a fan of comic books since childhood. Votes: 0

I have been involved with the UN refugee agency for a few years now, and we have done events to speak about refugees, focusing more and more on the situation with Afghan refugees. Votes: 0

I have lived a long time, and one thing I have come to see is that one is well served by a degree of both humility and charity when judging the inner workings of another person's heart Votes: 0

I have very fond memories of my childhood in Afghanistan, largely because my memories, unlike those of the current generation of Afghans, are untainted by the spectre of war, landmines, and famine. Votes: 0

I laughed. Partly at the joke, partly at how Afghan humor never changed. Wars were waged, the Internet was invented, and a robot had rolled on the surface of Mars, and in Afghanistan we were still telling Mullah Nasruddin jokes. Votes: 0

I loved him in that moment, loved him more than I'd ever loved anyone, and I wanted to to tell them all that I was the snake in the grass, the monster in the lake. I wasn't worthy of this sacrifice; I was a liar, a cheat, a thief. And I would have told, except that a part of me was glad. Glad that this would all be over with soon. Baba would dismiss them, there would be some pain, but life would move on. I wanted that, to move on, to forget, to start with a clean slate. I wanted to be able to breathe again. Votes: 0

I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t. Votes: 0

I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But i didn't care. I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lip. I ran Votes: 0

I returned to Afghanistan because I had a deep longing to see for myself how people lived, what they thought of their government, how optimistic they were about the future of their homeland. Votes: 0

I returned to Kabul after a 27-year absence. I came away with some optimism but not as much as I had hoped for. The two major issues in Afghanistan are a lack of security outside Kabul (particularly in the south and east) and the powerful warlords ruling over the provinces with little or no allegiance to the central government. The other rapidly rising concern is the narcotic trade which, if not dealt with, may turn Afghanistan into another Bolivia or Colombia. Votes: 0

I see America has infused you with the optimism that has made her so great Votes: 0

I shook my head no. For minutes, neither of us spoke a word. It breathed between us, what he had said, the pain of a life suppressed, of happiness never to be. Votes: 0

I started a foundation, called The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The mission has been to help the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan. So the focus has been on women, children, and homeless refugees, most of whom are in fact women and children. Votes: 0

I think he loved us equally, but differently. Votes: 0

I think novelists, when they write their books, end up having occasionally serving a purpose and playing roles that they never really fully either intended or even understood. Votes: 0

I think the changes that have happened, there have been come positive, but by and large, you have to say the changes have been negative. The situation has reached a fairly critical stage in Afghanistan. Votes: 0

I think the scale of the conflict [in Afghanistan] has dramatically changed in 2003. You're now facing a much more motivated, well-supported enemy. I don't see any quick end to this thing. Votes: 0

I thought about you all the time. I used to pray that you’d live to be a hundred years old. I didn’t know. I didn’t know that you were ashamed of me. Votes: 0

i want to give up my bearings, slip out of who i am, shed everything, the way a snake discards old skin. Votes: 0

I wanted to tell them that, in Kabul, we snapped a tree branch and used it as a credit card. Hassan and I would take the wooden stick to the bread maker. He'd carve notches on our stick with his knife, one notch for each loaf of naan he'd pull for us from the tandoor's roaring flames. At the end of the month, my father paid him for the number of notches on the stick. That was it. No questions. No ID. Votes: 0

I wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history. Votes: 0

I was overwhelmed with the kindness of people [in Afghanistan] and found that they had managed to retain their dignity, their pride, and their hospitality under unspeakably bleak conditions. Votes: 0

I wished I could be alone in my room, with my books, away from these people. Votes: 0

I would give them (aspiring writers) the oldest advice in the craft: Read and write. Read a lot. Read new authors and established ones, read people whose work is in the same vein as yours and those whose genre is totally different. You've heard of chain-smokers. Writers, especially beginners, need to be chain-readers. And lastly, write every day. Write about things that get under your skin and keep you up at night. Votes: 0

I’ll die if you go. The Jinn will come, and I’ll have one of my fits. You’ll see, I’ll swallow my tongue and die. Don’t leave me, Mariam jo. Please stay. I’ll die if you go. Votes: 0

I’m all you have in this world Mariam, and when I’m gone you’ll have nothing. You ARE nothing! Votes: 0

If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door, [and] to all rooms inside. Votes: 0

If my book generates any sort of dialogue among Afghans, then I think it will have done a service to the community. Votes: 0

If the story had been about anyone else, it would been dismissed as laaf, that Afghan tendency to exaggerate ---sadly, almost a national affliction; if someone bragged that his son was a doctor, chances were the kid had once passed a biology test in high school. Votes: 0

If there was a God, he'd guide the winds, let them blow for me so that, with a tug of my string, I'd cut loose my pain, my longing. Votes: 0

If there's a God out there, then i would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork. Votes: 0

If you connect emotionally with the plight of those characters, ou feel what they feel and you walk away with a sense of understanding and empathy, and hopefully, something has been illuminated for you. And I tink that's what happendd for a lot of readers with my novels. Votes: 0

If you were the poor, suffering was your currency. Votes: 0

I'm gladly doing my own thing for the time being. Votes: 0

In 2004, I took a one year sabbatical to finish my second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. At the end of that year, I was not done with my book, and had to in effect resign from work. I did. I never went back. Votes: 0

In early 1999, I was watching TV, when I came across a story on Afghanistan. It was a story about the Taliban and the restrictions they were imposing on the Afghan people, most notably women.At some point in the story, there was a casual reference to them having banned the game of kite fighting. This detail struck a personal chord with me, as I had grown up in Kabul flying kite with my friends. Votes: 0

In her smile, Idris sees how little of the world he has known, even at thirty-five years of age, its savageness, its cruelty, its boundless brutality. Votes: 0

In March of 2001, I revisited the short story, and found that thought it did not work well as a short story, it might work much better as a longer one. The novel [The Kite Runner] came about as an expansion of that original, unpublished short story. Votes: 0

In the coming days and weeks, Laila would scramble frantically to commit it all to memory, what happened next. Like an art lover running out of a burning museum, she would grab whatever she could--a look, a whisper, a moan--to salvage from perishing to preserve. But time is the most unforgiving of fires, and she couldn't, in the end, save it all. Votes: 0

In the end, the world always wins. That's just the way of things. Votes: 0

Inside Laila too a battle was being waged : guilt on one side, partnered with shame, and, on the other, the conviction that what she and Tariq had done was not sinful; that it had been natural, good, beautiful, even inevitable, spurred by the knowledge that they might never see each other again. Votes: 0

it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place. Votes: 0

It is now your duty to hone that talent, because a person who wastes his God-given talents is a donkey. Votes: 0

It so happens that the major relationships in the novel [The Kite Runner] are between men, dictated not by any sort of prejudice or discomfort with female characters, but rather by the demands of the narrative. Votes: 0

It turned out that, like Satan, cancer had many names. Votes: 0

It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting. - Amir Votes: 0

It was the kind of love that, sooner or later, cornered you into a choice: either you tore free or you stayed and withstood its rigor even as it squeezed you into something smaller than yourself. Votes: 0

It was you Nabi. It was always you. Didn't you know? Votes: 0

It would be erroneous to say Sohrab was quiet. Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. Sohrab's silence wasn't the self imposed silence of those with convictions, of protesters who seek to speak their cause by not speaking at all. It was the silence of one who has taken cover in a dark place, curled up all the edges and tucked them under. Votes: 0

It's a funny thing... but people mostly have it backward. They think they live by what they want. But really, what guides them is what they're afraid of. What they don't want. Votes: 0

It's hard when you make a film from a book that so many people love, because there's no way to get the entire story into a two-hour movie. But I was pleased with the reaction [for Kite Runner]. Votes: 0

It's literally just been formed. It's a 501 C3, non-profit charitable foundation called, unsurprisingly, the Khalled Hosseini Foundation. The aim is to help refugees and aim vulnerable women and children. Votes: 0

It's often a matter of sitting in front of the computer and worrying. It's what writing comes down to--worrying that things aren't going to work out. Votes: 0

It's tremendous what can happen when suddenly you make an emotional connection. Votes: 0

It's wrong to hurt even bad people. Because they don't know any better, and because bad people sometimes become good. Votes: 0

J’aurais dû être plus gentille—I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret. You will never say to yourself when you are old, Ah, I wish I was not good to that person. You will never think that. Votes: 0

Kabul was a thriving cosmopolitan city with its vibrant artistic, intellectual and cultural life. There were poets, musicians, and writers. There was also an influx of western culture, art, and literature in the '60s and '70s. Votes: 0

Laila has moved on. Because in the end she knows that’s all she can do. That and hope. Votes: 0

Laila remembered Mammy telling Babi once that she had married a man who had no convictions. Mammy didn't understand. She didn't understand that if she looked into a mirror, she would find the one unfailing conviction of his life looking right back at her. Votes: 0

Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end…crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis (nomads). Votes: 0

Life is a train, get on board. Votes: 0

Literature and film have a way of lifting you from your own existence and transporting you to some foreign place and putting you in the shoes with an experience different than your own. Votes: 0

Mariam lay on the couch, hands tucked between her knees, watched the whirlpool of snow twisting and spinning outside the window. She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. As a reminder of how people like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us. Votes: 0

Michael Bealmear is a philanthropist, and he has become interested in the issue of refugees, and he proposed that we do an event in his community, where we could dedicate an entire evening focused on the global refugee crisis, focused primarily on Afghanistan. Votes: 0

Mostly, though, I dream of good things...I dream that flowers will bloom in the streets..again and music will play in the...houses and kites will fly in the skies. Votes: 0

Must have been quite the culture shock, going there.” “Yes it was.” Idris doesn’t say that the real culture shock has been in coming back. Votes: 0

My family left Afghanistan in 1976, well before the Communist coup and the Soviet invasion. We certainly thought we would be going back. But when we saw those Soviet tanks rolling into Afghanistan, the prospect for return looked very dim. Few of us, I have to say, envisioned that nearly a quarter century of bloodletting would follow. Votes: 0

My father and I did work for a while at the flea market and there really are rows of Afghans working there, some of whom I am related to. Votes: 0

My own background is fairly liberal and so this notion of 'protecting women from outside intrusion' is not in my nature, nor in my upbringing. Votes: 0

Never mind that to me, the face of Afghanistan is that of a boy with a thin-boned frame, a shaved head, and low-set ears, a boy with a Chinese doll face perpetually lit by a harelipped smile. Never mind any of those things. Because history isn't easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi'a, and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. Votes: 0

No matter where we're born, which countries we're raised in, what cultures we come from, there are some universal experiences we all have as children. We all kind of start the same. We want the love of our parents, companionship, friends, we want to have fun, to play, and we're all hurt the first time we learn that the world is far from perfect place - it's the start of a series of epiphanies and realizations that is what growing up is all about. Votes: 0

No one has to know. No one would. It would be her secret, one she would share with the mountains only. The question is whether it is a secret she can live with, and Parwana thinks she knows the answer. She has lived with secrets all her life. Votes: 0

Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything Votes: 0

Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him. Votes: 0

Now, especially in public places, you always have that unease. When the children were cast, if I thought that they might be victims of violence because of participating in this movie, we would have chosen children from outside this country. Votes: 0

Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting. Votes: 0

On a high mountain I stood, And cried the name of Ali, Lion of God.O Ali, Lion of God, King of Men, Bring joy to our sorrowful hearts. Votes: 0

One time, when I was very little, I climbed a tree and ate these green, sour apples. My stomach swelled and became hard like a drum, it hurt a lot. Mother said that if I'd just waited for the apples to ripen, I wouldn't have become sick. So now, whenever I really want something, I try to remember what she said about the apples. Votes: 0

Panic. You open your mouth. Open it so wide your jaws creak. You order your lungs to draw air, NOW, you need air, need it NOW. But your airways ignore you. They collapse, tighten, squeeze, and suddenly you're breaithing through a drinking straw. Your mouth closes and your lips purse and all you can manage is a croak. Your hands wriggle and shake. Somewhere a dam has cracked open and a flood of cold sweat spills, drenches your body. You want to scream. You would if you could. Cut you have to breathe to scream. Panic. Votes: 0

People in the countryside carry a sense of dignity. They wear it, don't they? Like a badge? I'm being genuine. Votes: 0

People learned to live with the most unimaginable things. Votes: 0

People talk about apathy, especially in developed countries. We're kind of lulled into these tranquil lives, and we are pursuing our own thing and there is so much suffering on a mass scale around the world that you kind of become fatalistic. You might think suffering is inevitable, you kind of lose your sense of moral urgency. But there is always something you can do for someone in the world. Votes: 0

People…shouldn’t be allowed to have new children if they’d already given away all their love to their old ones. It wasn’t fair. Votes: 0

Perhaps this is just punishment for those who have been heartless, to understand only when nothing can be undone. Votes: 0

President Karzai is an incredibly kind and decent man. I had the pleasure of meeting him, and he genuinely cares for his people. But I think he had too much of a tendency to want to rule by listening to all voices at all times. Votes: 0

Probably the single most commen response I get from my readesr, be it through e-mails or letters, is that they did not know much, or at times, they're quite frank, they didn't care much about Afghanistan. But they pay attention more after reading these novels, and at times it has triggered this humaitarian spirt: some have donated money or at time times, people have joined humatiarian organizations that work in Afghanistan. Votes: 0

Regret... when it comes to you, I have oceans of it. Votes: 0

Sad stories make good books Votes: 0

she held her breath, and in her head, counted seconds. She pretended that for each second she didn’t breathe, God would grant her another day Votes: 0

She lived in fear of his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies, and sometimes not. Votes: 0

She was an extraordinary woman, and I went to bed that night feeling like I was perhaps more than ordinary myself. This was the effect she had on me. Votes: 0

She was the trembler of knees, the spiller of teacups. Votes: 0

She would grab whatever she could -a look , a whisper , a moan - to salvage from perishing , to perserve. But time is most unforgivving of fires , and she couldn't , in the end , save it all . Votes: 0

She would never leave her mark on Mammy's heart the way her brothers had, because Mammy's heart was like a pallid beach where Laila's footprints would forever wash away beneath the waves of sorrow that swelled and crashed, swelled and crashed. Votes: 0

So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one. Votes: 0

some stories don't need telling Votes: 0

sometimes the shifting of rocks is deep, deep below, and it's powerful and scary down there, but that all we feel on the surface is a slight tremor. Only a slight tremor. Votes: 0

Sometimes, Soraya Sleeping next to me, I lay in bed and listened to the screen door swinging open and shut with the breeze, to the crickets chirping in the yard. And I could almost feel the emptiness in Soraya's womb, like it was a living, breathing thing. It had seeped into our marriage, that emptiness, into our laughs, and our love-making. And late at night, in the darkness of our room, I'd feel it rising from Soraya and setting between us. Sleeping between us. Like a newborn child. Votes: 0

Tariq tucked the gun into the waist of his denims. Then he said a thing both lovely and terrible. "For you," he said. "I'd kill with it for you, Laila. Votes: 0

That same night, I wrote my first short story. It took me thirty minutes. It was a dark little tale about a man who found a magic cup and learned that if he wept into the cup, his tears turned into pearls. But even though he had always been poor, he was a happy man and rarely shed a tear. So he found ways to make himself sad so that his tears could make him rich. As the pearls piled up, so did his greed grow. The story ended with the man sitting on a mountain of pearls, knife in hand, weeping helplessly into the cup with his beloved wife's slain body in his arms. Votes: 0

That's how children deal with terror, they fall asleep. Votes: 0

The [George W.] Bush administration tripled its aid package to Afghanistan. [Hamid] Karzai finally (and courageously) announced that warlords will be forbidden from holding office in the future government. And finally, NATO agreed to expand the peacekeeping forces to troubled areas outside of Kabul. Votes: 0

The bulk of our efforts [in The Khaled Hosseini Foundation] has focused on helping build permanent shelters for returning refugees who are homeless, living out in the open or in makeshift homes. This is an area of urgent need as Afghanistan's natural elements are quite harsh, with very hot summers, and freezing winters. Votes: 0

The cities, the roads, the countryside, the people I meet - they all begin to blur. I tell myself I am searching for something. But more and more, it feels like I am wandering, waiting for something to happen to me, something that will change everything, something that my whole life has been leading up to. Votes: 0

The country [Afghanistan] faces enormous problems. There is a violent insurgency hampering the rule of law and developmental efforts. Votes: 0

The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts. Votes: 0

The film [Kite Runner] was not as big a hit in the United States as it was worldwide, I think it may have been swallowed up by all the other movies it had to go up against. Votes: 0

The finger cut, to save the hand. Votes: 0

The images [of The Kite Runner grafic] were created in Fabio Celoni's mind. I chose to let him take the lead. Fabio and I did exchange an e-mail or two, but it was my intention to step out of the way and let his artistic instincts take over. Votes: 0

The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip. Votes: 0

The novel [The Kite Runner] came about as an expansion of that original, unpublished short story. Votes: 0

the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion Votes: 0

The rope that pulls you from the flood can become a noose around your neck. Votes: 0

The short of it is, as an aspiring writer, there is nothing as damaging to your credibility as saying that you don't like to read. Votes: 0

The story line of my novel [The Kite Runner] is largely fictional. The characters were invented and the plot imagined. Votes: 0

The story of what has happened to women in Afghanistan, however, is a very important one, and fertile ground for fiction. Votes: 0

The things that have always drawn me to the craft of writing is character, it's story, it's something that becomes like a pebble in my shoe, a voice that I just can't get rid of, and I've got to see it through. Votes: 0

The truth is that no one who hasn't actually experienced the senseless chaos and violence of combat can possibly understand it, but those who have and who try to explain it to the rest of us are offering us a precious gift: a part of their soul that's been scorched in the flames of Hell. It's a little like trying to describe music to the deaf or color to the blind ... to make the irrational somewhat sensible, which is always confusing and frustrating, and ultimately futile. Votes: 0

Then I think of all the tricks, all the minutes all the hours and days and weeks and months and years waiting for me. All of it without them. And I can't breathe then, like someone's stepping on my heart, Laila. So weak I just want to collapse somewhere. Votes: 0

There [in Afghanistan ] is a tremendous need for selter. So I am focusing most of the efforts of the foundation to building shelters for refugees in northern Afghanistan and we have already begun doing so. Votes: 0

There [in The Kite Runner] certainly are, as is always the case with fiction, autobiographical elements woven through the narrative. Votes: 0

There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood. Votes: 0

There are so many orgizations that do amazing work. I represent not only my own foundation, but the UN Refugee Agency, which has been around since 1951, and has helped 30 million refugees around the world. Votes: 0

There are, however, those who have called the book [The Kite Runner] divisive and objected to some of the issues raised in the book, namely racism, discrimination, ethnic inequality etc. Votes: 0

there is a God, there always has been. I see him here, in the eyes of the people in this [hospital] corridor of desperation. This is the real house of God, this is where those who have lost God will find Him... there is a God, there has to be, and now I will pray, I will pray that He will forgive that I have neglected Him all of these years, forgive that I have betrayed, lied, and sinned with impunity only to turn to Him now in my hour of need. I pray that He is as merciful, benevolent, and gracious as His book says He is. Votes: 0

There is a way to be good again... Votes: 0

There is an energy, a romance in writing the first novel that can never be duplicated again. I was entirely absorbed in that world as I wrote the book [The Kite Runner] and to see the final page of that manuscript whir out of the printer was a very special feeling indeed. Votes: 0

There was so much goodness in my life. So much happiness. I wondered whether I deserved any of it. Votes: 0

There will be no floating waway. There will be no other reality tonight. Votes: 0

these random unkind moment that catch you wen you least expect them. Votes: 0

They say, Find a purpose in your life and live it. But, sometimes, it is only after you have lived that you recognize your life had a purpose, and likely one you never had in mind. Votes: 0

They tell me I must wade into waters, where I will soon drown. Before I march in, I leave this on the shore for you. I pray you find it, sister, so you will know what was in my heart as I went under. Votes: 0

Those who saw Kite Runner loved the film, for the most part, people seemed to really like the film. Votes: 0

Though The Kite Runner was my first completed novel, I had been writing on and off for most of my life, primarily short stories, and primarily for myself. Votes: 0

Though there had been moments of beauty in it, Mariam knew that life for most part has been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not help but wish for more of it. Votes: 0

Though there were moments of beauty, Mariam knew for the most part that life had been unkind to her. Votes: 0

Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride price and child marriage, and to enforce women to be involved in school. Every time, the reaction from the traditionalists was one of contempt and scorn and at times outright rebellion. I think the emancipation of women in Afghanistan has to come from inside, through Afghans themselves, gradually, over time. Votes: 0

Time can be a greedy thing-sometimes it steals the details for itself. Votes: 0

Was there happiness at the end [of the movie], they wanted to know. If someone were to ask me today whether the story of Hassan, Sohrab, and me ends with happiness, I wouldn't know what to say. Does anybody's? After all, life is not a Hindi movie. Zendagi migzara, Afghans like to say: Life goes on, undmindful of beginning, en, kamyab, nah-kam, crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis. Votes: 0

We [in The Khaled Hosseini Foundation] support and fund projects that bring jobs, healthcare, and education to women and children. In addition, we award scholarships to women pursuing higher education in Afghanistan. Votes: 0

We will also be funding projects that empower women and children in Afghanistan and now and then give scholarships to Afghan students here in the Bay Area. Votes: 0

What good is regret? It brings back nothing. What we have lost is irretrievable. Votes: 0

What was I supposed to be, growing in your womb -- assuming it was even in our womb that I was conceived? A seed of hope? A ticket purchased to ferry you from the dark? A patch for that hole you carried in your heart? If so, then I wasn't enough. I wasn't nearly enough. I was no balm to your pain, only another dead end, another burden, and you must have seen that early on. You must have realized it. But what could you do? You couldn't go down to the pawnshop and sell me. Votes: 0

When I was in Afghanistan in 2007, I went from village to village where refugees had returned, and they were living out in the open under tents, sometimes completely exposed to the environment. And they were homeless, which meant they would lose children in the winter to the cold and in the summers in the extreme heat. It's extremely humiliating for them to be homeless, culturally it's very shameful. Votes: 0

When I went to Afghanistan in 2003, I walked into a war zone. Entire neighborhoods had been demolished. There were an overwhelming number of widows and orphans and people who had been physically and emotionally damaged; every 10-year-old kid on the street knew how to dismantle a Kalashnikov in under a minute. I would flip through math textbooks intended for third grade, fourth grade, and they would include word problems such as, "If you have 100 grenades and 20 mujahideen, how many grenades per mujahideen do you get?" War has infiltrated every facet of life. Votes: 0

When you have lived as long as I have, the div replied, you find that cruelty and benevolence are but shades of the same color. Votes: 0

When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Votes: 0

Whether you do something or decide to do nothing, either way, you are making a moral choice. And I hope people make the right one. Votes: 0

Yes, hope is a strange thing. Peace at last. But at what price? Votes: 0

yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways and move them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with startling heroism Votes: 0

You are never alone in Afghanistan. You are always in the company of others, usually family. You don't understand yourself really as an individual, you understand yourself as part of something bigger than yourself. Family is so central to your identity, to how you make sense of your world, it is very dramatic, and therefore an amazing source of storytelling, a source of fiction for me. Votes: 0

You can not stop you from being who you are. Votes: 0

You changed the subject." "From what?" "The empty-headed girls who think you're sexy." "You know." "Know what?" "That I only have eyes for you." Laila swooned inside. She tried to read his face but was met by a look that was indecipherable: the cheerful, cretinous grin at odds with the narrow, half desperate look in his eyes. A clever look, calculated to fall precisely at the midpoint between mockery and sincerity Votes: 0

You don't have to donate money, it can be clothes, or books, or mediavl supplies. So there's so much that can be done [for refugees], the most difficult thing is that first step that decision to do something. Votes: 0

You don't order someone to polish your shoes one day and call them 'sister' the next. Votes: 0

You have extreme poverty and high crime and you have to admit that the governance of the Kabul regime has been poor and has been losing its popular legitimacy. You have a corrupt police force, not to mention homelessness, joblessness. The problems are huge. Votes: 0

You have these crops of poppies that supply something like 90% of the heroin sold in Europe and actually represents more than half of the Afghanistan's GDP. Votes: 0

You have think tanks like the widely respected Atlantic Council that have published reports in the past year that have called Afghanistan a failing state. Votes: 0

You say their stories, it is gift they give you. Votes: 0

You say you felt a presence, but I only sensed an absence. A vague pain without a source. I was like a patient who cannot tell the doctor where it hurts, only that it does. Votes: 0

You see, some things I can teach you. Some you learn from books. But there are things that, well, you have to see and feel. Votes: 0

You’re not going to cry, are you? - I am not going to cry! Not over you. Not in a thousand years. Votes: 0

You've always been a tourist here. You just didn't know it. Votes: 0

Zindagi migzara (life goes on) Votes: 0

People say that eyes are windows to the soul. Votes: 0

cruelty and benevolence are but shades of the same colour. Votes: 0

True redemption is...when guilt leads to good. Votes: 0

If thou art indeed my father, then hast thou stained thy sword in the life-blood of thy son. And thous didst it of thine obstinacy. For I sought to turn thee unto love, and I implored of thee thy name, for I thought to behold in thee the tokens recounted of my mother. But I appealed unto thy heart in vain, and now is the time gone for meeting. Votes: 0

I now know that some people feel unhappiness the way others love: privately, intensely, and without recourse. Votes: 0

The ordinary, utterly mundane reason behind the massacre makes it somehow more terrible, and far more depressing. The word 'senseless' springs to mind, and Idris thwarts it. It's what people always say. A senseless act of violence. A senseless murder. As if you could commit sensible murder. Votes: 0

Even after The Kite Runner was published I continued to practice for another eighteen months. But I had always had a love of writing and a compulsion to do it. Votes: 0

The Kite Runner is a story of two boys and a father, and the strange love triangle that binds them. Votes: 0

For a novelist, it's kind of an onerous burden to represent an entire culture. That said, I'm in a unique position to speak on behalf of Afghanistan on certain issues that I feel are important, particularly the issue of Afghan refugees. Votes: 0