“Courage, I realised, was not the absence of fear: it was the absence of selfishness; putting someone else's interest before one's own.”

“People hate out of fear and ignorance. If they could just get to know the people they hate, and focus on their common interests, they could overcome that hatred.”

“Permission to buy apricots and oranges from my own trees, the ones my great grandfather planted and i kept alive in drought and war”

“Before you judge a person, try to imagine how you would feel if the same things had happened to you.”

“One cannot live on anger, my son.”

“I had no idea words could have so much power and beauty.”

“He looked me directly in the eye. 'So you live in America?''We do.' I smiled.He stopped, opened his backpack, pulled out an empty tear gas grenade and handed it to me. 'I believe it was a present from your country.' Majid smiled. 'Tell your friends thanks. We got their grenade.”