Though there had been moments of beauty in it, Mariam knew that life for most part has been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not help but wish for more of it.
Interpretation
Life has its moments of beauty, but often it can be harsh and unkind.
In this quote from Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist reflects on her life, recognizing that despite experiencing moments of beauty, the overall journey has been marked by hardship and unkindness. As she approaches the end of her life, she feels a longing for more life, highlighting the complex relationship between joy and suffering that shapes human existence.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
You're gutless. It's how you were made. And that's not such a bad thing because your saving grace is that you've never lied to yourself about it. Not about that. Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him.
There was brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that even time could not break. - Amir
I don't outline at all; I don't find it useful, and I don't like the way it boxes me in. I like the element of surprise and spontaneity, of letting the story find its own way.
And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.
Perspective [is] a luxury when your head [is] constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.
The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts.
The man who begins to go to bed forty minutes before he opens his bedroom door is bored; that is to say, he is not living.
A lot of life is dealing with your curse, dealing with the cards you were given that aren't so nice. Does it make you into a monster, or can you temper it in some way, or accept it and go in some other direction?
If I had been born in the circus, my parents would have pushed me on that little high wire at four years old. That's when the body is most limber to learn those acrobatics.
Life... is like a grapefruit. Well, it's sort of orangey-yellow and dimpled on the outside, wet and squidgy in the middle. It's got pips inside, too. Oh, and some people have half a one for breakfast.
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
I wanted to try this new drink: That's all we do, isn't it - look at things and try new drinks?
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