Quotes by Khaled Hosseini

Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth.

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.

In the end, the world always wins. That's just the way of things.

Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it. - Amir

People say that eyes are windows to the soul.

A man's plumbing is like his mind: simple, very few surprises. You ladies, on the other hand...well, God put a lot of thought in making you.

I thought about you all the time. I used to pray that you’d live to be a hundred years old. I didn’t know. I didn’t know that you were ashamed of me.

Learn this now and learn it well. Like a compass facing north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.

Sad stories make good books

Behind every trial and sorrow that He makes us shoulder, God has a reason.

There is a way to be good again...

The problem, of course, was that [he] saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can't love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.

I will follow you to the ends of the world.

You have to write whether you feel like it or not.

Sad stories make good books.

Love is a delicate thing that needs to be cosseted and protected. Love is not robust and love is not unyielding. Love can crumble under a few harsh words, or be tossed away with a handful of careless actions. Love isn’t a steadfast dog at all; love is mor

The problem, of course, was that [he] saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can’t love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.

And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.

Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.

It's wrong to hurt even bad people. Because they don't know any better, and because bad people sometimes become good.

And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.

Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.

It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.

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

Life is a train, get on board.

My whole life I had been ‘Baba’s son.’ Now he was gone. Baba couldn’t show me the way anymore; I’d have to find it on my own.

There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life... you steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a ather. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to t

Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end…crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis (nomads).

And I’ll tell you this, Amir Jan: In the end, the world always wins. That’s just the way of things.

Sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime

I'm so afraid. Because I'm so profoundly happy. Happiness like this is frightening...They only let you this happy if they're preparing to take something from you.

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.

There is a way to be good again.

For you, a thousand times over.

But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.

There is a God, isn't there? Please, God, there has to be. But if there is, why doesn't he ever listen?

There is only one sin. and that is theft... when you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth.

For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice.