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Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini Quotes

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“When I went to Afghanistan in 2003, I walked into a war zone. Entire neighborhoods had been demolished. There were an overwhelming number of widows and orphans and people who had been physically and emotionally damaged; every 10-year-old kid on the street knew how to dismantle a Kalashnikov in under a minute. I would flip through math textbooks intended for third grade, fourth grade, and they would include word problems such as, "If you have 100 grenades and 20 mujahideen, how many grenades per mujahideen do you get?" War has infiltrated every facet of life.”

PeopleIfsYearsWarProblemKidsNumbersStreetsMinutesThirdsMathGradesZoneNeighborhoodOverwhelmingAfghanistanFourthFlipWidowsOrphanTextbooksFacetsGrenadeThird GradeFourth GradeWar ZonesWidows And OrphansMujahideenKalashnikov
Author:Khaled Hosseini
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“I remember reading 'The Grapes of Wrath' in high school in 1983. My family had immigrated to the U.S. three years before, and I had spent the better part of the first two years learning English. John Steinbeck's book was the first book I read in English where I had an 'Aha!' moment, namely in the famed turtle chapter.”

YearsFirstsTwoBookMomentsSchoolRememberThreeReadingHigh SchoolMy FamilyTwo YearsThree YearsChaptersWrathGrapesTurtlesLearning EnglishAha Moment
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“My memories of Kabul are vastly different than the way it is when I go there now. My memories are of the final years before everything changed. When I grew up in Kabul, it couldn't be mistaken for Beirut or Tehran, as it was still in a country that's essentially religious and conservative, but it was suprisingly progressive and liberal.”

WayYearsStillsDifferentCountryReligiousMemoriesChangedGrewGrew UpFinalsConservativeProgressiveMistakenTehranBeirutKabul
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“I foresaw my life unfolding as an interminable stretch of nothingness and so I spent my years on Tinos floundering, feeling like a stand-in for myself, a proxy, as though my real self resided elsewhere, waiting to unite someday with this dimmer, more hollow self. I felt marooned. An exile in my own home”

YearsRealSelfFeelingsHomeFeltWaitingMy OwnSomedayElsewhereNothingnessExileHollowUnfoldingReal SelfProxyFlounderingLife Unfolding
Book:And the Mountains Echoed
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“I found myself sitting at the computer, and I thought I was going to write a kind of simple nostalgic story about two boys and their love of kite fighting. But stories have a will of their own, and this one turned out to be this dark tale about betrayal, loss, regret. The short story which was about 25 pages long sat around for a couple of years.”

WritingYearsKindLongTwoStoriesFightingFoundDarkLossSimpleBoysRegretCoupleComputerPagesSittingBetrayalTalesSatShort StoryNostalgicKites
Author:Khaled Hosseini
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“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.”

IfsYearsMayLittlesTwoGovernmentTurnsPowerfulIssuesSecurityMajorsConcernOptimismTradeSouthEastAbsenceRisingAfghanistanRulingAllegianceProvincesColombiaNarcoticsBoliviaKabulCentral GovernmentWarlords
Author:Khaled Hosseini
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“I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.”

WayYearsLongHas BeensMomentsAgeTodayLastsPastRememberRealizingBehindsWallSixLong TimeTwentiesWinterI've LearnedTwelveLooking BackPreciseMudFrozenLong Time AgoAlleysClawsDesertedCrumblingCreeksFrigidOvercastPeeking
Book:The Kite Runner
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“there is a God, there always has been. I see him here, in the eyes of the people in this [hospital] corridor of desperation. This is the real house of God, this is where those who have lost God will find Him... there is a God, there has to be, and now I will pray, I will pray that He will forgive that I have neglected Him all of these years, forgive that I have betrayed, lied, and sinned with impunity only to turn to Him now in my hour of need. I pray that He is as merciful, benevolent, and gracious as His book says He is.”

PeopleNeedsYearsHas BeensBookRealEyeFaithTurnsHouseLostHoursPrayingForgivingGods WillHospitalsDesperationBetrayedLiedNeglectedI PrayGraciousMercifulBenevolentImpunityCorridorsHouse Of God
Author:Khaled Hosseini
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“She passed these years in a distant corner of her mind. A dry, barren field, out beyond wish and lament, beyond dream and disillusionment. There, the future did not matter. And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and it accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion.”

LifeYearsMindMatterDreamPastWishMistakeFieldsIllusionCornersDryBarrenDisillusionmentLamentTreacherousAccomplices
Book:A Thousand Splendid Suns
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“I have a theory about marriage, Monsieur Boustouler. And it’s that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it’s going to work. It’s astonishing how many people remain shackled for years, decades even, in a protracted and mutual state of self-delusion and false hope when in fact they had their answer in those first two weeks.”

PeopleIfsKnowsYearsFirstsTwoSelfStatesFactsAnswersWeekTheoryDecadesDelusionMutualWorking ItGoing To WorkAstonishingTwo WeeksSelf DelusionFalse Hope
Author:Khaled Hosseini
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