There was so much goodness in my life. So much happiness. I wondered whether I deserved any of it.

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

I will follow you to the ends of the world.

Now, especially in public places, you always have that unease. When the children were cast, if I thought that they might be victims of violence because of participating in this movie, we would have chosen children from outside this country.

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

If I ever do get married," Tariq said, "they'll have to make room for three on the wedding stage. Me, the bride, and the guy holding the gun to my head

I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded; not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.