the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion

There was brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that even time could not break. - Amir

I think novelists, when they write their books, end up having occasionally serving a purpose and playing roles that they never really fully either intended or even understood.

I have been involved with the UN refugee agency for a few years now, and we have done events to speak about refugees, focusing more and more on the situation with Afghan refugees.

I returned to Kabul after a 27-year absence. I came away with some optimism but not as much as I had hoped for. The two major issues in Afghanistan are a lack of security outside Kabul (particularly in the south and east) and the powerful warlords ruling over the provinces with little or no allegiance to the central government. The other rapidly rising concern is the narcotic trade which, if not dealt with, may turn Afghanistan into another Bolivia or Colombia.

That's how children deal with terror, they fall asleep.

and every day I thank [God] that I am alive, not because I fear death, but because my wife has a husband and my son is not an orphan.