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.

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

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

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.

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

Kabul is... a thousand tragedies per square mile.

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.