A Thousand Splendid Suns

"There is no honorable way out of this."

"Kabul's whores are made, not born."

"It always does pass. That's what you do."

"A woman's virginity is a man's honor."

"Like a compass needle that always points north, a man's role is to provide direction, to rule. It is the nature of men."

"We are all prisoners in this place."

"The heart wants what it wants."

"I do not accept your apology."

"A woman should be grateful for what she has."

"The trouble with running away is that you take yourself with you."

"I've already given up the best years of my life for nothing."

"This is women's place. Among the bones and the blood."

"I am a sinner beyond redemption."

"Behind every man, there is a woman."

"Marry you? I wouldn't marry you if the world were ending."

"I've heard that there are flowers that grow only in the rains."

"Do you really think I would take a thief to wife?"

"I deserve to be miserable."

"What is to be done with a girl like me?"

"I am a ghost in this house. A ghost that cooks and cleans and gives."

"It will pass, Mariam. It will all pass."

"You think I don't see what goes on? You think I'm stupid?"

"You see how cracked the plaster is? How the roof leaks? This is no place for a decent woman."

"A woman's face is her first mirror - a barren woman is nothing."

"Suffering is like a caravan crossing the desert. Each sorrow is a camel."

"I wish to be a thorn that brought something good into the world."

"Women are the nations of the world. Without women, there is no world."

"The children are reason enough to endure."

"What a privilege it is to be seen, truly seen."

"I am going to be your second wife."