A Thousand Splendid Suns

"Do something real here in this house instead of these foolish magazines."

"I am the gray now."

"There is no honorable way out of this."

"I have learned that hope is the cruelest thing of all."

"The stronger you become, the more you realize how little strength matters."

"Some days I don't recognize myself in the mirror."

"History is written by the victors, and we are always the vanquished."

"I choose to survive because my children need me."

"Dreams are luxuries for people with futures."

"She had learned that the world is a cruel place, indifferent to suffering."

"Patience is not a virtue I possess."

"A mother's job is never finished, only interrupted by death."

"I remember when there was music here."

"She had become an architect of small mercies."

"The pen is mightier than the sword, and yet we are not allowed to hold it."

"Once you accept defeat, you are already defeated."

"I will not raise my children to accept this world."

"Children are mirrors; they reflect everything you do back at you."

"She understood then what her mother had never had: a choice."

"The only power I ever had was the power to say no."

"Love is a luxury, but survival is a necessity."

"She had never thought of herself as strong until she had no choice but to be."

"Fear keeps you obedient, and obedience keeps you safe."

"A woman's life is divided into before children and after."

"She felt old, worn out like furniture left in the sun."

"Time has not moved on for this country."

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."

"I'm not like her. I can't be."

"The Taliban will never be gone. They will always come back."

"You're going to be fine, you know."