I have a particular disdain for Islamic extremism, and of course, in both 'The Kite Runner' and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' that's obvious.

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

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

I was overwhelmed with the kindness of people [in Afghanistan] and found that they had managed to retain their dignity, their pride, and their hospitality under unspeakably bleak conditions.

One time, when I was very little, I climbed a tree and ate these green, sour apples. My stomach swelled and became hard like a drum, it hurt a lot. Mother said that if I'd just waited for the apples to ripen, I wouldn't have become sick. So now, whenever I really want something, I try to remember what she said about the apples.

The impact had cut your upper lip in two, he had said, clean down the middle. Clean down the middle. Like a harelip.

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