Quotes by Khaled Hosseini

Though there had been moments of beauty in it Mariam knew that life for most part had been unkind to her.But as she walked the final twenty paces,she could not help but wish for more of it.She wished she could see Laila again , wished to hear the clangor of her laugh , to sit with her once more for a pot of chai and leftover halwa under a starlit sky. She mourned that she would never see Aziza grow up , would not see the beautiful young woman that she would oneday become ,would not get to paint her hands with henna and toss noqul candy at her wedding . She would never play with Azizas children. She would have liked that very much , to be old and play with Azizas children.Mariam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes , it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that wshed over her. 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 wolrd 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. No. It was no so bad , Mariam thought , that she should die this way. Not so bad.This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings. pg. 360

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.

At times , he didnt understand the meaning of the Korans 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 . Theyll comfort you too . Mrariam jo , he said . You can summon then in your time of your need , and they wont fail you . Gods words will never betray you , my girl . (pg.17)

Though there had been moments of beauty in it, Mariam knew that life for the most part had been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not help but wish for more of it. She wished she could see Laila again, wished to hear the clamour of her laugh, to sit with her once more for a pot of chai and left over halwa under a starlit sky. She mourned that she would never see Aziza grow up, would not see the beautiful young woman that she would one day become, would not get to paint her hands with henna and toss noqul candy at her wedding. She would never play with Azizas children. She would have liked that very much, to be old and play with Azizas children.Near the goalpost, the man behind her asked her to stop. Mariam did. Through the crisscrossing grid of the burqa, she saw his shadow arms lift his shadow Kalashnikov. Mariam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. 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. No. It was not so bad,Mariam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate beginnings. Mariams final thoughts were a few words from the Koran, which she muttered under her breath.He has created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He makes the night cover the day and makes the day overtake the night, and He has made the sun and the moon subservient; each one runs on to an assigned term; now surely He is the Mighty, the Great Forgiver.Kneel, the Talib saidO my Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for you are the best of the merciful ones.Kneel here, hamshira and look down.One last time, Mariam did as she was told.

Its often a matter of sitting in front of the computer and worrying. Its what writing comes down to--worrying that things arent going to work out.

A creative writing teacher at San Jose State used to say about clichés: Avoid them like the plague. Then hed laugh at his own joke. The class laughed along with him, but I always thought clichés got a bum rap. Because, often, theyre dead-on. But the aptness of the clichéd saying is overshadowed by the nature of the saying as a cliché.

Marriage can wait, education cannot.

‎I know youre still young but I want you to understand and learn this now. Marriage can wait, education cannot. Youre 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.

I see youve confused what youre learning in school with actual education.

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

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 couldnt, in the end, save it all.

A mans plumbing is like his mind: simple, very few surprises. You ladies, on the other hand...well, God put a lot of thought in making you.

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

Hassan couldnt read a first-grade textbook but hed read me plenty. That was a little unsettling but also sort of comfortable to have someone who always knew what you needed.

Ill put it on my table where I keep my drawings, Hassan said.His saying that made me kind of sad. Sad for who Hassan was, where he lived. For how hed accepted the fact that hed grow old in that mud shack in the yard, the way his father had.

For you, a thousand times over!

War doesnt negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace. - Baba

That summer, Titanic fever gripped Kabul. People smuggled pirated copies of the film from Pakistan- sometimes in their underwear. After curfew, everyone locked their doors, turned out the lights, turned down the volume, and reaped tears for Jack and Rose and the passengers of the doomed ship. If there was electrical power, Mariam, Laila, and the children watched it too. A dozen times or more, they unearthed the TV from behind the tool-shed, late at night, with the lights out and quilts pinned over the windows.At the Kabul River, vendors moved into the parched riverbed. Soon, from the rivers sunbaked hollows, it was possible to buy Titanic carpets, and Titanic cloth, from bolts arranged in wheelbarrows. There was Titanic deodorant, Titanic toothpaste, Titanic perfume, Titanic pakora, even Titanic burqas. A particularly persistent beggar began calling himself Titanic Beggar.Titanic City was born.Its the song, they said.No, the sea. The luxury. The ship.Its the sex, they whispered.Leo, said Aziza sheepishly. Its all about Leo.Everybody wants Jack, Laila said to Mariam. Thats what it is. Everybody wants Jack to rescue them from disaster. But there is no Jack. Jack is not coming back. Jack is dead.

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

Ask him where his shame is. They spoke. He says this is war. There is no shame in war. Tell him hes wrong. War doesnt negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace.