Not until, years later, I found my true interest in life did I discover that I could master a subject, no matter how difficult, if it helped me in what I wanted to do.

If I did not have for him the warm affection a son feels toward a less austere and preoccupied father, I at least had an immense respect for him, and a great admiration.

One of the things that made me persist in the Antarctic in the face of sickening discouragements was my determination to name a portion of the earth's surface after my father.

But “almost done” is not done!

...all the fears with which I had grown up, and which were now a part of me and controlled my vision of the world, rose up like a wall between the world and me...

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.

Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country.

My last comment was, though, that Congress has cooked the books.

It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so. I admire you, beloved, for the trap you've set. It's like a final chapter no one reads because the plot is over.

Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.

This is motherhood for you,' said my own mother. 'Going through life with your heart outside your body.

People may resist our advice, spurn our appeals, reject our suggestions, refuse our help, but they are powerless against our prayers.

The experience of writing 'The Kite Runner' is one I will always think back on with fondness. There is an energy, a romance in writing the first novel that can never be duplicated again.