“No. The smile had left Sarahs voice. He still works for the Basij. Beware of weak men, little sister. He never returned to help, not even to express condolences for Father. Find a strong man. Get a...”

“Being articulate is no guarantee of intelligence, Zoe said. Im not doubting the value of education. Im doubting its reach. Highly educated politicians still do stupid things. Anthony Weiner was edu...”

“Zoe stopped one last time in front of the mirror, adjusting her new American dress. She didnt see the dress, however. She saw what the big Russian did to her. She saw what al-Qaeda did to her. She ...”

“Zoe did what civilized people do when they freak out: she drank tea. She had walked from her little bungalow to Coffee & Tea. It was always filled with the well-educated, the complicated, the peopl...”

“Saul had gained his six-foot frame at sixteen, but his muscles didnt arrive until his early twenties. Between those lost years, he was a gangly, uncoordinated klutz. He was told that he could impro...”

“Diplomacy is so weak and prosaic. Diplomacy must never become an end, itself. Facts are so much more important in science. Yet, I'm beginning to appreciate the value of a soft word and a smile. --U...”

“Saul had gained his six-foot frame at sixteen, but his muscles didnt arrive until his early twenties. Between those lost years, he was a gangly, uncoordinated klutz. He was told that he could impro...”

“Civil order mattered. Zoe didnt know why Farah continued to wear the headscarf, but most Middle-Eastern women wore modest clothing to anchor themselves to a moral order, in an upside-down world. Zo...”

“In the privacy of her century-worn house she donned an old burka to stay warm. Years earlier, the ragged garment had been discarded by her eldest sister, Sarah. Zoe secretly retrieved it so she cou...”

“Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.”

“Women helped each other in ways small and large every day, without thinking, and that was what kept them going even when the world came up with new and exciting ways to crush them.”

“I am not smart, I pay attention.I am not considerate, I listen.I am not patient, I make time. Im not lucky, I work hard.”

“Theres no respect for older people at all today, and thats saddening. Look at the way crime against older people has risen! You know, theres no calling people Mr or Mrs now, they just call you, and...”

“There’s no respect for older people at all today, and that’s saddening. Look at the way crime against older people has risen! You know, there’s no calling people ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’ now, they just call y...”