Kite Runner Quotes

For you, a thousand times over. – Amir

There is only one sin. And that is theft… when you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. – Baba

When we are children, we should learn to be good losers… In the real world, there is no Afghanistan. There is no America. There is only stealing and being stolen from. – Rahim Khan

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. – Amir

But he’s not my friend! He’s my servant! – Amir

There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood. – Rahim Khan

One day, when you’re old and slow like me, and you’re still taking your vitamins, you’ll lie down for an afternoon nap and when you wake up, you’ll realize that you can’t remember much of your life. Back then, Afghanistan will be just a memory for you, too. – Rahim Khan

Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. – Amir

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

When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. – Baba

For me, America was a place to bury my memories. – Amir

When you’re a child, you assume that your parents are soulmates. My mother and father are divorcing now. And here’s my question: how do you ever recover from that? How do you ever forgive your best friend for leaving you? – Amir

There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that? – Baba

In the end, the world always wins. That’s just the way of things. – Rahim Khan

They say, when you sleep with dogs, you get up with fleas. – Rahim Khan

It’s a funny thing, the way people define your life by the choices you’ve made. – Rahim Khan

You know what always happens when the monster knocks on the door? – Kamal

There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood. – Amir

The problem, of course, is that [they] always think they are the victims. But I wish I could make [them] see… they’ve been the oppressors for over two hundred years. – Assef

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. – Amir

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

Soraya Taheri was the first Afghan girl I’d ever known who could make something as simple as drinking a glass of water seem like she was doing it for you. – Amir

I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. – Amir

You couldn’t trust anyone in this country anymore. – Baba

It may be unfair, but what happens in a single day can change the course of a whole lifetime. – Rahim Khan

It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right. Only a smile. – Amir

That’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too. – Amir

And the truth is, I don’t even know what shape Afghanistan is in anymore. Blown to bits, probably, like everything else. I wonder if, in America, my dream will continue. – Hassan

I realize now that it wasn’t just Rahim Khan I had betrayed. I had betrayed my father, and I had betrayed myself. – Amir

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. – Amir

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

For you, a thousand times over. – Hassan

War doesn’t negate decency. It demands it, even more than in times of peace. – Farid

In the end, the world always wins. – Rahim Khan

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

A wise and caring teacher can shape a student’s entire future. – Rahim Khan

I hurt him a lot. You don’t know how badly I was capable of hurting him. – Amir

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

I’m so dirty… That’s what it comes down to. I’m so dirty and full of sin. – Amir

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. – Amir

I wondered if he was lonely for me, too, and hoped he was. But I couldn’t help but think that Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. – Amir

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. – Amir

You can’t always stop for those who’ve fallen behind in this race called life. – Hassan

Afghans like talking to extension numbers. It makes them feel important. – Amir

There is a way to be good again. – Rahim Khan