Quotes from Khaled Hosseini

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.

I have met so many people who say they've got a book in them, but they've never written a word.

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.

Ahesta boro, Mah-e-man, ahesta boro.

I landed in Kabul the day before Shock and Awe in Iraq, and you could all but hear the collective groan.

For you, a thousand times over!

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

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

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

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

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

Marriage can wait, education cannot.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Learn this now and learn it well. Like a compass facing north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.