“It wasn't only our country they occupied," Irene explained to Amir Shah. "They occupied our minds.”

“He was reminded of what he liked about Irene so much; that she had not written her war away, she claimed it as her own again and again--near the chichra tree in Five Queen's Road and along the cobbled sidewalk opposite a canal in Maastricht and who knows how many more times in the privacy of her own thoughts.”

“Noor was Sajida's secret. She knew the exact moment her child was conceived. Purple passed slowly, the lowest of clouds, over her eyes. Bathed in such magnificent color, Sajida lay perfectly still. Much later, she would try to relive the exact moment, as if she needed to understand how the fact of her child could have entered her body and mind at the same time. But Sajida would not summon the gentle shade ever again.”

“As much as Sajida once loved him, she thought it unjust that her daughter, forsaken by her father, should have any physical likeness to him at all.”

“My mind mends my motives and my notion navigates my natives,for we all are made of soil-our corrupted soil.”

“we choose for our selves what's right or wrong... but when we make mistakes we blame someone else(parents)”

“The unconventional is dangerous at times, but we must...splash our personal canvasses with bold strokes and daring colors and give no thought to what the finished work may look like. It will somehow self-organize into a more worthy piece than can be constructed by the deliberate planning so common with the way life is lived today by most of our fellow humans.”