A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything.

If the story had been about anyone else, it would been dismissed as laaf, that Afghan tendency to exaggerate ---sadly, almost a national affliction; if someone bragged that his son was a doctor, chances were the kid had once passed a biology test in high school.

Afghan women, as a group, I think their suffering has been equaled by very few other groups in recent world history.

But it is important to know this, to know your roots. To know where you started as a person. If not, your own life seems unreal to you. Like a puzzle. Vous comprenez? Like you have missed the beginning of a story and now you are in the middle of it, trying to understand.

A stubborn ass needs a stubborn driver

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

On a high mountain I stood, And cried the name of Ali, Lion of God.O Ali, Lion of God, King of Men, Bring joy to our sorrowful hearts.