The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts.

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

Baba dropped the stack of food stamps on her desk. "Thank you but I don't want," Baba said. "I work always. In Afghanistan I work, in America I work. Thank you very much, Mrs. Dobbins, but I don't like it free money."...Baba walked out of the welfare office like a man cured of a tumor.

The rope that pulls you from the flood can become a noose around your neck.

People say that eyes are windows to the soul.

I will say that there is an inordinate amount of medicine in my novels, especially the first one. There are a lot of medical things that happen. A hip fracture, three different kinds of lung cancer, pneumonia, blood poisoning, and so on.

For courage, there must be something at stake. I come here with nothing to lose.