I wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history.

Attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun.

hills that stand soft and a sky that stands high and blue, and the sun setting behind a windmill, and always, always, hazy strings of mountains that fall and fall away on the horizon.

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

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

A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.

Nothing good came free. Even love. You paid for all things. And if you were poor, suffering was your currency.

But time, it is like charm. You never have as much as you think.

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

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.

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.

I do not encourage early morning chirpiness, even in those whom I know and love. It is generally a sign of a sloppy mind, and is not to be encouraged.

The challenge is never based on the size of the obstacle that stands before me. Rather, it is dictated by the degree of faith that rests within me.

Truly novel inventions emerge only in one's youth. Later one becomes ever more experienced, famous-and foolish.

I don't drop players. I make changes.

Dogs seem more photogenic than cats. In photos most cats look like sociopaths.

We put stereotypes on ourselves - like, everybody does that. But I think it's just a little harder for black kids to just like, you know, be who they are.

I'm Puerto Rican! You can never take my rice, pork, and beans away. Plus, I love to cook. I'm one of those people who stay in the kitchen standing while everything is cooking, checking on everything.

In the saddle again, Fire mulled over the commander's trust, prodding it around, like a candy in her mouth, trying to decide whether she believed it.

To me, there are lots of different stories to tell and you usually find the best way to tell the one you are telling once you are in it.

Leaving my house and getting on to a red carpet is always crazy for me, because you have to find a way to be comfortable in the most uncomfortable situation imaginable.